Here is my eulogy for Gary:

I think we can all agree that my brother Gary was an amazing person.

From his infectious smile, to that ornery glint in his eye, anyone who knew him knew that he was a treasure direct from the heavens. In fact, the day that he left this planet, he did so with such power that Texas froze over.
Winston Churchill said, “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents.” And that’s how Gary lived his life.

He was a natural leader, and his personal qualities made him someone who was easy to admire. He always put people before profits and knew how to engineer policies and procedures in such a way that accomplished important goals without making a big fuss. For example, by changing the time of the weekly safety meeting and payday to Wednesday afternoon at 4, attendance increased, and accidents decreased.

But one of the qualities that struck me the most about him was his humility. His life was a study in how to walk in grace when faced with adversity, conflict, tragedy, heartache, and all of the ills that go along with being human. But also, his humility was the strength behind his successes and joys and generosity of heart.
The Bible talks about humility in a godly man, and Gary embraced and wore his humility with deep sincerity.

He was a peacemaker, and it was rooted in the strength of his faith in god, rather than placing his faith in his own ego.

Gary showed his strength as a compassionate person who loves others. He was not afraid to love. He was not afraid to help others.

Gary maintaining gratitude for his many talents and gifts that he trusted god for being able to use those talents and gifts fully and where to give the credit.

It was through his humility that he led teams and inspired people by building others up and gratefully walking in God’s grace, love, and forgiveness. Gary was gentle and humble–and he was strong.

And he was a true hero.
In the 1970s, he saved the lives of several oil workers when the helicopter they were riding in went down near an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Time and again, he helped save the lives of many others when they cried out for help. He simply reached out his hand and offered to share with them what he knew. In doing so, he saved himself.
He was kind. Gary had a soft spot in his heart for animals. One memory that I have always held close was the time we were playing golf and he hit a long drive down the fairway toward the green, and the ball fell short, hit a mallard in the head, and knocked it out cold. We ran down the fairway and he scooped it up in his arms, and gently stroked and patted it, saying how sorry he was. He felt just awful about it, and we were afraid the duck would not survive, but after a few minutes, the duck regained consciousness and went on its way. Only then did we continue our game.
He was greatly blessed and in the spirit of the Cherokee way, the way we were raised, he exercised great generosity of heart by volunteering his time to help others: Boy Scouts, habitat for humanity, abandoned animal rescue, his church, his neighborhood, his friends, and his family, and so many others whose lives he touched.

In everything he did, he honored our parents, and he honored his God. Because helping others is just what we do.
It would not be fair for me to not mention his sense of humor. It was wicked, it was subtle, and he was the master of understatement. One of his favorite phrases was to quote our Grandpa Roy. After a great homecooked meal, he would proclaim his stamp of approval with that delightful lopsided grin, “it’ll do.”

Gary absolutely did the best he could with what he had, and he was blessed to have such great resources.
I’m pretty sure that God greeted him with that same lopsided grin, and said “It’ll do, Gary. It’ll do.”