Gary Wayne ABBOTT

07/20/1943 - 07/08/2013

ABBOTT, Gary Wayne (Age 69) Of Colfax passed away unexpectedly on July 8, 2013 in Spokane, Washington where he was recuperating from a recent surgery. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday July 26, 2013 at Bruning Funeral Home in Colfax with Jim Krouse officiating. Committal services with vault inurnment will follow at the Colfax Cemetery. Gary was born in Spokane on July 20, 1943 to Howard (serving in the Pacific) and Dorothy Abbott. He lived his early years on family farms at Clear Creek and Kamiak Butte. He attended elementary schools in Colfax, Palouse, and Oakesdale. He attended high schools in Oakesdale and Colfax, graduating from Colfax High in 1961. He then attended Kinman Business University in Spokane. He worked many years as a brakeman for the Great Northern Railroad out the Hillyard Yard Office. He changed careers to real estate and bought, sold, and built homes in the Inland Empire. He lived and worked in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. He changed to real estate appraisal, and when he retired, he had a thriving appraisal business in the Tri-Cities. Gary was an avid outdoorsman. He loved hunting, fishing, and being in the woods. He was proudly a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and other groups, including the North American Hunting Club and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He is survived by daughter Crystal and family in Las Cruces, New Mexico; and sons Marcus and family in Spokane, and Dan and family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Grandchildren include Charlee, Tyler, Ellis, Avery, Markee and Tristan. He leaves a string of broken hearts across the Northwest and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. In lieu of flowers memorial donations are suggested to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. BRUNING FUNERAL HOME of COLFAX has been entrusted with funeral arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.bruningfuneralhome.com