Gary Lee Scharnberg

Gary Lee “Farmer” Scharnberg

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Gary Lee Scharnberg of Everly, age 82, who left us peacefully on December 26th, 2025. Gary was born in Cherokee, Iowa on October 13, 1943 to Mildred (Millie) Struve Scharnberg and Robert (Bob) Scharnberg, while his father Robert was stationed in Guam and serving in the Pacific Theater for the U.S. Navy. Baby Gary became a binding force that helped hold his parents together over that vast distance during the war as Robert received almost daily letters about his new born son’s development from Millie as well as Gary’s grandparents. Gary ended up celebrating a couple birthdays before he finally met his father in person.

The Scharnberg family eventually returned to the family farm near Everly where Gary grew up an athlete, scholar and dutiful son. Young Gary loved hunting, fishing, and sports, and excelled in track receiving many wins in both high school before he graduated at Everly in 1962 as well as at Buena Vista University where he majored in Chemistry. By the time he graduated from Buena Vista in 1966, he had set two new track records for the mile and half-mile.

After college, Gary enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he served nine and a half years and achieved the rank of Captain. Much of Gary’s work still remains classified as far as his family knows, but his missile and aerospace defense career in the USAF took him to Mount Laguna, California, Mississippi, Maine, Colorado Springs Colorado, Shemya Alaska, Vietnam, and Woomera Australia where he worked at the Joint Defense Facility Nurrungar (JDFN) operated by both the Australian Department of Defense and the United States Air Force. It is here where he would meet the love of his life and future wife, Sheila, who had immigrated to Australia with her family from England.

Gary and Sheila became inseparable, and later married in 1975 when Gary traded his USAF service and promising military career for service to his family. His father Bob and grandfather Conrad (Coonie) needed help on the farm and so Gary and Sheila moved to Everly, ending up back on the family farm like his father before him. Gary and Sheila lost their first son, baby Robert, shortly after birth but Gary became a proud father when Michael was born in 1978.

Gary loved his rural community in Everly, enjoying the company of new and lifelong friends alike and served on various boards such as the Co-Op Elevator, the United Farmers Telephone Company, and Evertek. In addition to farming, in 1998 he also began work at Christian Sheet Metal for supplemental income but found this new career rewarding and enjoyed the people he worked with, earning the nickname “Farmer.” He ended up working there around a decade. In 2008, Gary became the family patriarch when his father passed away, and in the following years he took loving care of his wife Sheila, his sister Jill, and his mother Millie before their own respective passings. In spite of it all, Gary always had a smile ready to flash at someone, never passed up a cold beer or a good meal, and loved to watch shows about nature, the Alaskan wilderness, and courtroom / judge programs.

Gary was the best big brother to his younger siblings Jill Foss, Steven Scharnberg, Janet Carl-Scharnberg and Charles (Chuck) Scharnberg. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sheila Grist Scharnberg, infant son Robert, his parents Bob and Millie, his sister Jill Foss and infant brother Jack, sister-in-law Denise Scharnberg, and nephew Ben Scharnberg. He is survived by his son Michael Geoffrey Scharnberg who lovingly cared for him as he declined, his siblings Jan, Steve and Chuck, as well as many nieces and nephews, cousins, and dear friends.