Gary James Gull

Gary James Gull, 87, formerly of LaPorte, passed away on May 8, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gary was born on September 20, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois to James P. and Lina (Perttunen) Gull. He attended Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, studied at Northwestern University, and was an Air Force veteran.

Gary worked pharmaceutical sales for Syntex Laboratories and Ortho Pharmaceuticals, was a salesman for Louis Glunz wines, and even sold encyclopedias door to door to American families stationed at overseas bases to fund his travels in Europe. He was also a regional sales manager for American Linen and invested extensively in real estate.

He married his wife, Bobbe Lee Brownsey of LaPorte, in 1961. They loved to travel and in their early years made many trips to Europe by air and sea. The sidewalk cafés of Paris and their love of wine and live jazz inspired them to open Geja's Café in old town Chicago in 1965. Geja's still exists today, under different ownership. Other Chicago ventures followed in the 1960s and 70s, including The Mushroom bar, Digby's Australian Pub, the Shore Crest hotel, Pardiggle's bar, Stratford Liquors, Hoots Discotheque, and the Squash Blossom restaurant. Gary and Bobbe eventually settled in LaPorte in 1977 to raise their children and opened the Tangerine restaurant, a LaPorte fine dining destination in the 1980s. Gary and Bobbe moved back to Chicago in the 1990s and spent retirement there as well as in Las Vegas; South Beach, Florida; Palm Desert, California; Oklahoma and Missouri.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Bobbe, and sister Marlene Arnold. Surviving are his children, Tamara and Darius, and brother Alan. Gary's ashes will be interred at Pine Lake Cemetery next to Bobbe's. There will be a Celebration of Life on August 6th, 2024 in LaPorte; for details contact Tamara at tamara.gull@gmail.com. Memorials may be made to the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, https://www.lubeznikcenter.org/donate.