Gary Martin Metsker

Gary Martin Metsker, beloved father, husband, grandfather, brother, and friend, passed away on September 1, 2024, in Lafayette, Colorado.
Gary was born on July 5, 1940 (the exact same day and year as his future wife, Shirley) to Millo and Pearl Metsker in Denver, Colorado. But he often joked that he was born on "7/5/1940, BC," which garnered many a chuckle from the medical staff who treated him over the last several years.
Anyone who knew Gary would agree that this was par for the course for him. Always ready with a joke or a pun, Gary was known for his legendary sense of humor and big belly laugh. Even in his final months, Gary never lost his keen comedic timing.
Gary grew up in the family home on South Ames Street in Lakewood, Colorado in a house his dad was still building when Gary was born in 1940. In fact, Gary lived the first few months of his life in the garage that was built first, while Millo finished the house. Gary was a mischievous kid and on one occasion while he was being scolded by his mom for getting into trouble, Gary said, "Just spank me and let me go back outside."
Along with his lifelong friend, Jerry Hicks, Gary seemingly always found ways to do crazy things and cause anxiety for his parents. To give an idea of just how many shenanigans these two got into, when Gary was older, he penned a memoir called, "Gary and Jerry Stories." Gary shared many of these stories with his children and grandchildren, who can probably all recite their favorite "Gary and Jerry story" by heart.
Gary's love of jokes and pranks began early in life. For example, one time when Gary was eight or nine years old, his brother Carl was leaving the house to go out with friends. Gary wanted to go along but was told he couldn't. Gary's solution was to lay behind the rear wheels of Carl's car so that he couldn't back out of the driveway. In typical older brother fashion, Carl and his friend plucked Gary out from the behind the wheels and tied him to one of the elm trees along the driveway before driving off.
Life was like that for Gary. He was always finding something fun to do, or slightly mischievous to try. Gary enjoyed athletics, and was a talented athlete at Alameda High School, and later at McPherson College in Kansas. He played football and basketball and ran track at Alameda. In college, he played football and basketball, and even found time to start a golf team as well.
At McPherson, he met and dated Shirley Reynolds of Des Moines, Iowa. They would eventually get married after graduation in August 1962. Gary and Shirley moved to Colorado and began their teaching careers in Adams County School District 12. Gary started as a Social Studies and Government teacher at Northglenn Junior High and did that for six years before getting his master's degree in Guidance Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. He was a guidance counselor for the remainder of his 32-year career, all of which was spent in District 12 at a handful of junior high schools.
In July 1963, Gary and Shirley welcomed their first son, Greg, and went on to add two more sons, Scott and Josh, to the family. Shirley often said she had to raise four boys, as Gary was always playing games or in the middle of some kind of competition with the boys. From shooting baskets in the driveway; to playing catch in the yard; to kicking field goals with a nerf ball in the family room; or kicking a soccer ball through the living room, down the front hall, through the kitchen, and back to the living room to see who could do it in the least amount of time; Gary and his boys were constantly on the go.
Gary gave his boys the greatest gift any dad could: His time. And he did so generously.
In 1973, Gary followed in his dad's footsteps and decided to build a house. He and Shirley purchased 2.5 acres southwest of Brighton, Colorado and he built a beautiful ranch style home for the family. It was a great place to live and raise children. It was also perfect for hitting golf balls out in the wheat fields, or hunting doves from the front yard on fall evenings. Initially, his boys could not fathom how they would live out in the country with "nothing to do," but that quickly turned out to be an unfounded concern. There was always something to do and the move proved to be the best thing Gary and Shirley could have done for their young family.
Gary was privileged to be offered an early retirement package in 1993 after three decades of being an educator. He and Shirley both retired at that time and spent the next 25 years selling antiques, being snowbirds in Arizona, and traveling the United States and Europe. They enjoyed playing golf, a sport they shared with their boys throughout their lives. Gary loved to fish, and that was a lifelong pursuit as well.
In the spring of 1991, Gary became a grandpa to two granddaughters, Stephanie and Meredith. Over the next few years, two grandsons, Steven and Phillip, were added to the mix. All four shared Gary's love of fun and humor. Unfortunately, Gary did not get to meet his first great grandson, Milo, who was born two weeks after Gary passed. Though we like to think maybe Gary helped usher Milo into this world, with a smile and a joke, of course.
Gary thoroughly enjoyed his grandkids over the years. Gary lived his life in pursuit of fun things to do and fun people to associate with. He had many great friends in his school district, his neighborhood in Arizona, and beyond. He was preceded in death by his wife Shirley, his parents Millo and Pearl, his sister Marilyn, and grandson Steven. He is survived by his brother Carl Metsker (Joan), sons Greg Metsker (Grace), Scott Metsker (Carol), and Josh Metsker, as well as grandchildren Stephanie Metsker, Meredith Metsker, and Phillip Metsker.
A celebration of Gary's life will take place on October 19 at 12:30 p.m. at the Alli Event Center in Brighton, Colorado.
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