Gary Warner Truman

Gary Warner Truman was born on September 19th,1958 to George Wayne Truman and Glenda Rey Mitchell at the Army-Navy Hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas. On July 13, 2025, he passed away due to a fall after summiting Wyoming's high point, Gannett Peak, the second most difficult high point in the United States. Gary was a devoted husband and loving father who always supported his family in his quiet, steady way.

Gary spent most of his childhood in Irving, Texas. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 11 and in 1977, at the age of 19, Gary left for Japan to serve a two-year mission. Gary loved the Japanese language and people, and he worked with the Japan America Society of Colorado and practiced writing in kanji up until his passing. He even sang a Japanese lullaby about an owl to his kids and granddaughter when rocking them to sleep.

Before his mission, Gary wanted to be a crop duster, so his dad taught him to fly planes. But when he returned from Japan, Gary decided to attend college. To put himself through school, he drove semi trucks and hauled sheet rock, a job that he talked about with enthusiasm decades later. In 1987 Gary graduated with a B.A. in History and a minor in Economics from Texas A&M and remained a loyal Aggie the rest of his life. In 1989, Gary passed the LSAT with an almost perfect score, and in 1992 he graduated with his J.D. from U.T. Austin. The next year, he moved with his family to Golden, Colorado, to start his first job as an employment lawyer at Bradley Campbell Carney & Madsen. Over the years, Gary worked at other firms and as an in-house lawyer, eventually creating his own company, Gary Truman, LLC. He also worked as a landman for 15 years, which allowed him to explore eastern Colorado and Wyoming several times a year.

In 1980, Gary was introduced to Laura Garms through a mutual friend. They had two dates before Laura went off to veterinary school at Texas A&M. After their second date, Laura thought Gary was the kind of guy she could marry, but they were still very young. Five years and several cities later, Gary proposed on Christmas Eve in the garden of the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. When Gary's mother asked him how he felt about Laura, he said, "I can't imagine my life without her." Gary and Laura were sealed for time and for all eternity in the Dallas Temple on March 18, 1986.

Soon after their marriage, Gary joined the Army National Guard as part of Company D of the 5th Battalion - 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He was an active intelligence analyst for six years and on reserve for another two. One of his favorite parts about serving was attending jump school. He loved being a paratrooper and would sometimes regale his family with stories of jump practice mishaps or sharp-tongued drill sergeants. His patriotism was evident throughout his life, both for his country and for the state of Texas. In addition to having many conversations with his children about being loyal, responsible citizens, he also conducted them in singing the Texas state anthem at the dinner table a few times.

One of Gary's most notable traits was that of a lifelong learner. While he loved watching old movies and westerns, he also spent hours watching lectures on language and history, and he was always reading three or four books at a time. Books were one of a few things he collected, and he boasts a library of over 2,000 tomes. His other collections included cowboy boots and hats. A displaced cowboy who always dreamed of moving back to Texas, Gary wore cowboy boots from the time he was young. His hat collection started in earnest a couple of decades ago; the exact timing is unclear because his wife didn't find out until she discovered the hats in the basement.

At the age of 42, Gary taught himself to play the bass and amassed a large collection of jazz CDs, which he played loudly on his new stereo until his teenaged kids asked him to turn the volume down. He also bought congas, a guitar, and other instruments for his children. Gary was purposeful about passing on his love of learning and culture to his kids, and he often gave them assignments to do during the summer to keep them sharp. They learned quickly that a simple question would likely turn into a research opportunity involving dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a handwritten report. Though these assignments elicited eye-rolls and sighs at the time, they were one of the many ways Gary showed his care for his children. Gary was a skilled writer, speaker, and educator, and he used these skills to teach his children to be critical thinkers and to love learning. He was also there for them in any situation, whether they needed help moving (again) or just needed a listening ear.

While secular learning was important to Gary, gospel learning was an inextricable part of who he was. Though he himself may be reluctant to accept the term, his family knew Gary as a scriptorian. He had a deep love of the scriptures, and he always supplemented his scripture study with reference manuals and General Conference talks. Above all, Gary showed his quiet devotion to God in the way he served, kept his covenants, honored his wife, and always magnified his various callings.

Gary loved the outdoors almost as much as he loved the gospel and his family, and he spent many hours hiking the high points in the Western United States, summiting all of them with the exception of Mt. Hood. He was an expert outdoorsman and navigator, skills he acquired in summer training with the Army National Guard. Gary summited Gannett Peak, the most difficult high point in the United States after Denali, on July 13, 2025, after four separate attempts. His family is so grateful that Gary got to leave this world doing what he loved, and they are so proud of who he is and grateful for all that he taught them.

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