Gary Lynn Estes

Gary Lynn Estes gained his wings on Sunday, February 22, 2026, surrounded by his family at the age of 81! He was born on February 14th, 1945, in Tampa, Florida, and moved to Mildred, Texas, at the age of 7. He would call Mildred home for the remainder of his life with his grandparents, Altie and Launa Estes.

Gary was preceded in death by his brother Doug Gohr. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie Estes; daughter Kari and husband Ronnie Burks; daughter Christina Estes and fiancé Anthony Barbosa; his grandchildren Blythe Greenup (Donald), Taylor Greenup (Aubyn), Carley Bouska (Colton), Bailey Burks, and Brennen Burks; his great-grandchildren Luke, Piper, Sadie, Lincoln, Cannen, Declan, and Levi.

Gary was loved and respected by many. He lived a life that most of us could only read about in adventure books. He traveled the world while working for Otis Engineering, which became Halliburton. He worked in the UAE, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Iberia, Scotland, the North Sea, Congo, Nigeria, Egypt, Greece, Qatar, Turkey, Italy, and the Persian Gulf. Some of these were during the Gulf War. He was a master mechanic and invented different things that Halliburton patented.

In his spare time, you could find him fishing or gardening. He could grow anything and everything and would share his knowledge with anyone. Stating, "Everyone should be able to feed themselves."

He was known by many names-Gary, Dad, Papi, and Grandpa. No matter what you know him by, to know him was to know he was a country gentleman in every possible way. He never met a problem he couldn't solve or fix, earning him the name MacGyver. He was always willing to lend a helping hand to those he saw who were working hard and just needed a little extra help along the way. He had a pair of "heehaws" for every occasion and season. He was one of the strongest-willed men to walk this earth, and he will be missed greatly.

With his famous saying, "It's been real, it's been fun, but it ain't been real fun."