Gary Louis PETTIGREW

SPOKANE - Gary Louis Pettigrew of Spokane, Washington, passed away on January 21, 2023, after a steadfast, years-long battle with Myelodysplastic Syndrome. He was 78. Gary was a remarkable combination of intellect, curiosity, natural physical ability, and determination. He made his family proud and was an incredible husband, big brother, cousin, uncle, teammate, and friend to those who had the pleasure to know him. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Jerry and Kathleen (Koenigs) Pettigrew on October 10, 1944. In 1946, his parents, with Gary and his older brother Neil, moved to Spokane, Washington, where his mom had grown up and where his dad had gained fame as a star hockey player for Gonzaga University. He probably inherited his super-competitor attitude and his interest in athletics from his dad. He attended St. Francis of Assisi parochial school, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, and was a standout student at Gonzaga Preparatory School (Class of 1962), where he was a Father Curtis Sharp Award winner (chosen by classmates of the graduating class in recognition of superior academic achievement, high moral standards, outstanding leadership, and committed participation in athletics), All-City football player, a starter on the basketball team, and finalist in the half-mile at the Washington state track meet. His academic and athletic credentials qualified him for a football scholarship to Stanford University, where he at- tended from 1962 to 1966. Oth- er schools wanted him to play for them, including Notre Dame and Oregon (we still have the letter from Oregon head coach Len Casanova inviting him to play for Oregon). That's no wonder because he had amazing athletic talent: at six feet five inches and 215 pounds, he could run the hundred-yard dash in ten seconds, the quarter-mile in 50 seconds, the half-mile in under two minutes, high-jump over six feet, and put the shot over 50 feet. Gary stood out as a football player at Stanford, where he played on the offensive line on the freshman team and then lettered for three years on the varsity team as a starter at the defensive end. In 1964 Gary achieved All-Pacific Coast first-team honors and in 1965 was co-captain of the team and All- American candidate before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the second game of that season against the Navy. In one Stanford-Washington football game (October 19, 1963) at Husky Stadium, when he played right defensive end, he ran down the bootlegging Husky quarter-back and tackled him from the opposite side of the field. That astounding feat was featured in the Seattle Times newspaper the next morning with a series of still pictures showing Gary's progress across the field. Along with some other players on the football team, Gary also played rugby for the Stanford JV team in 1965. While at Stanford, he became a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Despite the knee injury, Gary was the second pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1965 National Football League draft and was also the sixth pick by the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League. At that time, when he was still a Canadian citizen, he had discussions about playing for the BC Lions of Vancouver, his birthplace. He chose to play for the Eagles, who gave him a Chevy Corvette as a signing bonus and played defensive end and defensive tackle for them for nine years before a one-year stint with the New York Giants in 1975 that marked the end of his football career. Ironically, his head coach with the Eagles was Joe Kuharich, who had tried to recruit him when he was the head coach for Notre Dame. Gary's career as a starting defensive lineman for the Eagles was distinguished, and in 1970 he was named the Eagles' Most Valuable Defensive Player. While in Philadelphia, Gary roomed in Penn Tower with long-time friend, Steve Sabol, the President and co-founder of NFL Films and now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After he retired from football, Gary worked as a sales representative for American Sign and Indicator, selling major league scoring and information display systems to major universities, professional teams, and municipalities. After eight years of that, he grew tired of the travel and in 1986 co-founded Spokane Exercise Equipment with his wife, Patti, who still runs the business. Gary and Patti had a lifelong passion for fitness and healthy lifestyles and enjoyed helping thousands of people throughout the Northwest achieve their fitness goals. Gary and Patti met in 1980 and married in 1983 in a private Spokane ceremony attended by close family. They had a deep love for each other that lasted more than four decades. In the winters they would regularly escape the Spokane winters to enjoy the sun and surf at South Beach in Miami, Florida, and they also regularly attended Pettigrew family events to be with Gary's parents and brothers and their families. Once he drove non-stop from his apartment in Philadelphia, 2546 miles and 37 hours straight, to be with family at Christmas in Spokane. Although Gary is most well-known for his football career, he was much more than a football player. His diverse talents were already evident in grade school, when he engaged in many hobbies, such as model airplanes, powered model hydroplanes, and drawing cartoons. Many of his highly skilled line drawings as a boy depicted his favorite subject, Alfred E. Neuman of MAD Magazine. Gary loved camping at Priest Lake, Idaho, with his parents and four brothers, and later his wife, nephews, and nieces. He loved fast cars, starting with his signing-bonus Corvette, and he went on to have more Corvettes, a Ferrari, Lamborghini, MGB GT, and Porsche, but after having several of his fast cars stolen in Philadelphia, Garytook to driving less attractive cars, such as a VW bug and a Chevy Corvair, which were never stolen. Gary made a real difference for his parents and brothers with his generosity. After he signed with the Eagles, he bought his parents a brand-new 1966 Chrysler Newport sedan, replacing the old family car that was on its last legs. He also helped pay the tuition for his brothers Jim and Tom at Gonzaga Preparatory School. In 1969, he loaned his brother Rick the cash to pay the expenses needed for attending Stanford in Austria. And when Rick had to sell his car to raise cash for living expenses after coming home from Austria, Gary simply gave him his Chevy Corvair. Gary's generosity to his family had an impact still being felt today. Despite his fame, Gary was very humble, never bragging about his exploits on the football field. Many of us would have enjoyed hearing more stories, but he tended not to talk about himself. He enjoyed his solitude and liked to meditate. He loved a quiet life and his pets, especially his poodle, Bondi. One of Gary's prominent attributes was his sharp wit, accompanied by an infectious laugh. He could crack everyone up with his talent for impersonations. His imitation of Julia Child was priceless! He especially loved doing impersonations to entertain his nieces and nephews, and they loved him for it. Gary had a penchant for philosophy and was always exploring the hows and whys of who he was. He always shared his ideas on nutrition and exercise and was very well-read on the subject. Prompted by his always-inquiring mind, Gary loved to read, on an endless diversity of topics, and he frequently engaged friends in conversations on the ideas he found in his books. He was an expert and articulate conversationalist and very well-spoken. Like a lot of elite football players, Gary navigated through multiple post-career injuries and surgeries. In later years, he became very concerned about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. Gary feared that he might have that, so he made provision for donating his brain tissue for study at the Boston University CTE Center. He was very committed to helping others understand the potential consequences of playing football. Among the many hats that Gary wore was that of an architect. Although he was an English major at Stanford, he would have changed to architecture if it had been available at the time. He nevertheless studied architecture on his own, and even designed and built his own unique house in Spokane. While he was still an NFL player, he wisely built two apartment buildings in Spokane to serve as a supplemental income source. Gary was the fourth member of his immediate family to leave us. He was preceded by his father, Jerry (2004), his older brother, Neil (2011), and his mother, Kathleen (2021). He is survived by his beloved wife, Patti; his younger brothers, Rick, in Eugene, Oregon, Jim, in Kenmore, Washington, and Tom, in Manson, Washington; and many nieces and nephews