Gary Stresemann

Gary was hardworking. He was a fulltime truckdriver, farmer, husband, dad, and grandpa. He wasn’t an overly wealthy man, but what he had he would share with whomever needed it. He gave generously to the community and church. When we had food drives in the church, he would go to the local grocery store and buy all kinds of food even though he could ill afford it and give it to the food drive. He would always tell us to shop locally to preserve our small town.
You would see Gary in church every Sunday and like clockwork, he would be at the grocery store and gas station right after. When his children were little, he would make pancakes on Sunday. Not just a small batch, but dozens of pancakes. We would all eat our fill even if he forgot an ingredient or two! This was the only time he cooked and we treasured this time with him.
Gary loved to farm and had many animals. He had the standard cows, pigs, and chickens throughout the years but later he bought himself a couple of llamas that quickly escalated to many llamas! He would name them all and they would come to him when he called.
Gary gave me, his daughter, the love of farming. He taught me how to plow, dry corn, combine, and plant. He was very patient and forgiving in this process. He would even laugh off his own mistakes when showing me how to farm. One time he told me not to put the combine back in the shed. He would put it away since he didn’t want me to forget to unhook the auger on it and break it off. When I came over the next day he was fixing on the combine. I asked what happened and he sheepishly replied that he forgot to unhook the auger before putting it back in the shed and dented the auger. We both got quite the chuckle out of this.
Gary loved his grandchildren immensely. He would often buy them toys or even big boy toys (he had seven grandkids that were all boys). He showed up at my door one day and said he had a surprise. My children and I came out to see three go-carts on the lawn that he had boughten. He figured that my husband, Dan, and himself could fix them up for everyone to ride. It turned out to be quite fun for all the grandkids and made many lasting memories.
Gary is deeply missed by all and we all continue to think of him every day. His last generous donation was to Life Source. May his memory and generosity live on.

He gave all so others could live.