I received this e-mail from a young man that Gary was friends of their family when he lived in Delaware, they went to the same Church we all went to, First Baptist Church of Frederica.
It is so nice I asked his permission to post it on the Blog.

John,

Hello. I hope you and your family are doing well. I was deeply saddened to hear of Gary's death. He was an admirable person and somebody who I will always remember for his kindness and distinct personality. I feel it is safe to say that the entire Rowley family would agree with me.

Gary although he probably did not know it, was a huge influence in my life as a teenager. My family attended church in Frederica the same time as Gary. Gary and my Father Bob Rowley were friends. My father often consulted with Gary when he needed advice on things like do-it-yourself auto repairs or small engine fixes. Gary always seemed to know what was wrong where others were stumped and was always willing to help. As a teenager I was impressed with his knowledge of such things and took an interest in trying to fix things myself. Many years later I am still an amature but credit what I do know to Gary. My father bought me my first car when I was 16 and it needed a few very expensive repairs. The repairs them self would cost more money in labor than the car was worth. Gary agreed to fix the car provided we got the parts he needed. A new clutch, timing belt and various other things and my first car was ready for the inspection lane. I learned two things from Gary that day. The first is that he probably had better things to do with his time than to be fooling around with my junk car yet he helped anyway. When I am able to help somebody and am not sure if I am willing I always think of how Gary fixed my first car. The second I learned that day was not to be afraid to try things myself. Two years later I joined the Air Force and spent 4 1/2 years fixing the C-5's at Dover Air Force Base. The picture in the photo on your blog my be a plane that I later did work on. It is reasonable to say that Gary indirectly worked on those aircraft through inspiring me to do it. Who knows how many other people that Gary inspired or influenced. Things like that don't always come to be discovered but I believe there are probably many other people who have similar memories of Gary. I ran into Gary a few times though out the years I was stationed in Delaware. I was always happy to see him. If there is anything I can ever do to help a friend or family member of Gary's please do not hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely,

Brent Rowley
Havelock, NC