Garry Lee Macha

Garry Lee Macha, 78, passed away in his home in Austin, Texas on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Garry was born September 18, 1946 in Topeka, Kansas, the son of Joseph and Vernadell Macha. He graduated from Delia High School and Kansas State University where he majored in Civil Engineering. Shortly after college he volunteered to join the United States Coast Guard where he served at the Cape Blanco, Oregon Lighthouse, and as a technician working on a LORAN station in Palau, Micronesia.

When he returned from the South Pacific, he married Judith Zlatnik on June 18, 1972 in Delia, Kansas.

After completing his service in the Coast Guard, he started a career designing and building natural gas transmission pipelines. While he had stints in Chicago and Oklahoma City, much of his career was spent in Topeka working for Kansas Power and Light, Western Resources, and OneOk in Topeka. He spent the last ten years of his career working in Tulsa prior to retiring in 2009.

Garry enjoyed the outdoors, sports, and travelling. He visited all 50 states, driving in or through 49 of them, with Judith and his family on annual vacations, and after retirement enjoyed taking international trips. He was an avid bird hunter, softball player, a huge Kansas State University athletics fan, and a frequent volunteer coach, who served for many years on the board of Topeka’s Ken Berry youth baseball league, including as its president.

He moved to Austin, Texas in 2018 to be near his grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife Judith, his parents, and his brother Robert. He is survived by his son Brent, and his wife Melissa, and three grandchildren Jake, Luke, and Max of Austin, TX, his son Greg of Shawnee, KS, and his brother Daniel and his wife Julia of Villanova PA, and his sister-in-law Anna Macha of Mesa, AZ. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 am on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at Countryside United Methodist Church in Topeka, Kansas where he and Judith had spent most of their lives. A visitation will precede the service starting at 9:30 am and a reception will follow.

The family requests no flowers please. If you wish, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.

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