Gary Harding

Gary Harding

1945 ~ 2026

On January 9, 2026, Gary Harding returned to his wife Kathy's side. Born July 23, 1945 to Owen and Florence Harding in Tremonton, Utah Gary was the 10th of 11 children. He had four sisters and six brothers. During his time growing up he moved a lot (seventeen times he said) and said that it was hard to make friends moving so much. During one short move to Orem, he was in a band class where he first met Kathleen Nielsen. Kathleen made such an impression on him that years later Gary sought her out. They began dating and eventually married on April 17, 1964 in the Salt Lake Temple.

Kathy and Gary originally settled in the Salt Lake area moving to Orem, Price and Springville for work. They stayed in Springville for several years before relocating to Highland and then Alpine. Their home in Alpine provided them a home with the enough ground to grow beautiful large gardens, cultivate a number of apple trees, and most importantly allowed plenty of space for gatherings to enjoy their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This was their home for the remainder of their years together. It wasn't until after Kathy's passing that Gary moved again. He then spent several years living with his youngest son's family and adored the time he got to spend with his grandchildren being so close. In recent years he moved into a senior community in his own little condo and got to know many great people with whom he shared many stories.

For much of his life Gary worked in the telecommunication industry and saw advancements in communications including everything from party lines to cell phones. He first worked as a lineman for Mountain Bell and as he learned more and gained responsibilities, he eventually worked on large PBX systems including installing the one at BYU (which at the time was the largest PBX in the state of Utah). He eventually started his own company, Star*Tel, which not only sold and installed telephone equipment but also found success in searching out long distance fraud for customers. Over the years Gary and Kathy let their entrepreneurial spirit lead them to additional opportunities including running a floral store, creating and selling many craft items at fairs, and utilizing their passion for gardening to helping others design and install landscapes. Gary enjoyed being busy and working hard.

Gary was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and as a High Priest enjoyed many calling throughout his life, but his most memorable was serving as a missionary with his wife Kathy at the Bishop's Storehouse in Lindon. He enjoyed serving and helping the many people there.

As much as he loved working, serving, and creating, Gary's greatest happiness was found in connecting with family both here and those already gone. Some of his great family memories involve vacations, snowmobiling, fishing and reunions that included epic water fights. He treasured any time together with family, looking forward to those regular Sunday dinners and the many birthday visits from his children and their families. In recent years, he was an avid advocate of family history and spent countless hours searching for and connecting to relatives. He would often start and end conversations sharing stories of ancestors and telling family members that he had more work for them to get done.

Gary was preceded in death by his wife Kathy, his parents and siblings, and one of his great-grandsons. He is survived by his children Connie (James) Wilson, Becky (Bob) McConnell, Dave (Jennye) Harding, Gayleen (Todd) Menlove, Mary Kay Harding-Ricks, and William (Amy) Harding as well as his 21 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

We know that while we finish our journey here, Gary and Kathy (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa) are pulling for us and watching to see what great things we'll continue to accomplish so that we can tell them about it when we meet again.

Memorial services for Gary will be held on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 2:00 pm in the Warenski Funeral Home Chapel, located at 1776 North 900 East American Fork, Utah.