Gary Lynn Marlow

Gary Lynn Marlow, 81 year old long-time resident of Siskiyou County, died peacefully at Madrone Hospice on November 12, 2025, after a long battle with dementia. Gary was born on April 13, 1944 in Marin County to Charles "Dick" Marlow and Elvera Lindstrom Marlow, owners of Top Hat Cleaners in Ross, California.
Gary's parents moved to Redding, where Gary attended Grant Elementary School. When his parents divorced in 1956, he moved to Santa Rosa with his mother. He attended Slater Junior High and then Santa Rosa Junior High where he met his future wife, Joan Woolley Burdette of Sebastopol, CA. When Gary was attending Montgomery High School the Boy Scouts took over City Hall and Gary was Mayor of Santa Rosa for the day. After graduation from Montgomery High in 1962, he spent the summer touring Europe on a moped with a friend.
During his college years, he worked as a firefighter for the US Forest Service in Ponderosa, CA. Gary attended Santa Rosa Junior College, then transferred to Sacramento State where he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1968. While at Sacramento State, he met his first wife Carol Peterson of Roseville, CA. Gary and Carol married in 1969, and they moved to San Francisco where he entered the life of wearing a suit and tie each day while working for Deloitte & Touche doing audits. After about two months of living in a walkup city apartment, he knew he wanted a more rural lifestyle. The couple moved to Fort Jones and rented a trailer from his mother Elvera, who worked for many years as a waitress at the Shamrock Restaurant in Yreka.
Gary began living what he called a "Hippie" lifestyle. He had a large garden, goats, geese, chickens, worked for the Klamath National Forest, did construction projects and some farming jobs. He obtained his CPA License in 1970 and opened a business from home doing tax returns for locals. While living in Scott Valley, Gary and Carol had their first child, Justin Marlow. In 1972 Gary moved to Yreka and started a CPA firm. It was here that he became a front runner in the new computer world. He had a special cooled room in his office closed off from dust that contained a very large early version of present-day devices. It was the joy of his life for a time. While living in Yreka, Carol and Gary had a second son, Cameron. Gary and Carol divorced in 1991. Gary continued to work as a CPA in Yreka.
In 1992 Gary attended his 30-year Montgomery High School Class Reunion in Santa Rosa where he became reacquainted with his classmate Joan. Joanie and Gary married in Reno on New Year's Day 1993. Gary and Joanie were on a bowling team and members of the Yreka Elks for many years. They owned a cabin in Sawyers Bar, where Gary liked to take weekend trips with his wife or friends. Gary loved to golf and both Gary and Joanie loved entertaining at their home.
Gary's life was not always an easy one. He contracted both polio and spinal meningitis as a child and was in a horrific auto accident in the mid-sixties which left him scarred for life. He was also a victim of post-polio in his sixties, which made walking difficult. Through all of this, he never complained and was always the nice guy we would all like to know. Always a smile and never a harsh word.
As Gary began to suffer from memory loss, he sold his business. For a time, Gary lived at home under the care of his wife Joanie. He spent the last years of his life at Grenada Gardens, then at Siskiyou Springs, and his final days at Madrone Hospice in Yreka.
Gary was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Joan Marlow, and his son, Justin Marlow. He is survived by his son, Cameron (Heather) Marlow and grandson Becket Marlow, all of Menlo Park, CA, and older brother, Charles "Dick" Marlow (Carole), a niece and nephew, all of Redding.
Gary will be interred near his mother's grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Yreka, California. He loved animals, especially dogs. Therefore, memorial donations may be made on behalf of Gary Marlow of Yreka to the ASPCA.