Gary Claude Gore, 77, of Fairhope, passed away Sunday evening, July 20, 2014 after a difficult battle with cancer.
Gary was born March 11, 1937 in Hewitt Creek, Boone County, W.V. to Elbert French and Claudia Marie (Bias) Gore as the sixth of eight children. He was raised in the foothills of the rugged Cumberland Mountains of southwestern West Virginia.
The majesty of his natural surroundings and the simple, self-sufficient and proud people of nearby Appalachia coal camps had a profound influence over how Gary chose to lead his life — as a free-thinker and fiercely independent individual.
After graduating from Logan High School in 1955, he attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. on a football scholarship before enlisting in the Air Force in 1957. He retired as a master sergeant after serving 20 years, and relocated from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. to the Eastern Shore of Fairhope in 1977.
He continued to work as a top-performing pharmaceutical salesman for 22 years before retiring in 1999.
During his free time, Gary was an organic gardener (with the best tasting tomatoes this side of the Mississippi), amateur ornithologist (bird watcher), voracious reader and history buff, armchair politician and philosopher, and SEC college football fan (LSU).
He is survived by his wife, Linda (Herrington); three children, Leslie (Paul) Levett of Parker, Colo., Curt (Dona) Gore of Atlanta, Ga. and Vicky (Warren) Harris of Boca Raton, Fla.; four grandsons, Andrew, Matthew, Jeffrey and Thomas Levett; two sisters, Patricia Sidebottom and Lana Collins (John); and numerous nieces and nephews.
Gary was predeceased by his parents, Elbert and Claudia; four brothers, Bill (Rose), Franklin, Curtis and Carson; and one sister, Joyce (Chip) James.
Visitation will be Friday, July 25, 2014, from 10:30 until 11:30 a.m., at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Daphne.
Graveside interment will follow at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish Fort.
Full military honors will be rendered by the U.S. Air Force and the Patriot Riders.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Covenant Hospice, 1040 Stanton Road, Suite D, Daphne, AL 36526.
Arrangements by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, Daphne.
