The glue that bonded decades of friendships
Gary Anderson of Waterloo Born: June 17, 1965, in Waterloo Died: Oct. 23, 2018, of cancer
WATERLOO — From the time he was a kid, Gary Anderson had a fascination with anything mechanical, a fascination that started with items around the house: Radios, clocks and more.
Sister Brenda Anderson said Gary’s interest in how things worked generally led to destruction before he actually figured out how to fix anything.
“Gary was mostly taking things apart,” she said, noting her clock radio was a victim.
But his innate curiosity and determination to understand inner workings led to a career at Expressway Trucks, the Volvo dealership near Ayr where Gary worked as a truck mechanic since 2000.
“He was very dedicated, very meticulous and detail-oriented,” said dealership general manager Shaun Howard, adding Gary was a specialist in wheel alignments, not an easy task given the size of the vehicles and number of wheels.
“He must have done close to 10,000,” said Shaun.
Gary also kept up with his training as the industry rapidly evolved, achieving a Volvo master technician designation — tough because he was not computer savvy and all the courses were done online.
“But he did it,” said Shaun. “He was very proud of that.”
Around the shop, Gary kept to himself, a guy with his own little quirks, but a guy who was also always ready to lend a hand.
“He was the first to open in the morning, typically by 6 a.m.,” said Shaun, noting Gary was an exceptional employee and will be missed on the shop floor.
“You don’t replace that kind of skill-set and talent,” Shaun said.
Gary was born in Kitchener June 17, 1965, one of three kids. His mom, Dorothy, divorced their father and later met then married widower Duncan Anderson in 1974.
Duncan, a truck driver for Weston Bakery, had been struggling to care for his five daughters, ages four to 20. One of those daughters, Brenda, was seven when she suddenly had three new siblings including nine-yearold Gary.
“It was crazy,” she said of this big new blended family.
Brenda has since come to understand what a tough job Dorothy had taken on, with five girls added to her own brood of two sons, David and Gary, and daughter, Lorie.
It was a constantly full household and she joked about never having to own a house key.
“Everyone came and went, the door was always open, there were always lots of people,” Brenda said.
Added to his chaos of kids, Duncan was a scout leader and along with his wife welcomed kids to their home. Gary’s longtime friend and fellow boy scout, Lance Davis, said they were like second parents to half the neighbourhood.
Lance describes the boys hanging around the Anderson household, on the driveway fixing up old cars they managed to buy as teenagers.
Duncan, who officially adopted his stepchildren, was supportive of the boys’ efforts though he didn’t really know anything about mechanics.
Lance mused that Gary was “a regular guy” but on further reflection, he began to talk about how his friend was special, how he would always be the one everyone went to for help.
Gary was the glue that held their social group together through boy scouts and high school at Forest Heights.
“He was in everyone’s wedding party,” said Lance.
Gary even became godfather to one of his friend’s children though Gary never married or had children of his own.
Kids liked him though, as did dogs.
He was a gentle soul and that was very attractive, said Brenda.
Lance spoke about the enduring friendships Gary forged, how he “kept everyone together and he was always available for us.”
They met at Forest Heights Boy Scouts and as a troop they had lots of adventures winter camping and hiking.
As adults they continued the tradition, camping and snowmobiling in Haliburton. A smaller group rode snowmobiles outside Kitchener as far as Breslau and Sportsworld long before Highway 8 existed.
“We’d stop at Rafters, where Moose Winooski’s is now,” Lance said.
“Nachos and draft beer was the specialty.”
These moments of friendship mattered deeply to Gary.
“He helped so many people,” said Lance.
Given her brother was so quiet, never wanting to draw attention to himself, Brenda was a bit surprised to learn he had been the one who worked hard at keeping all those friendships percolating all through their adult years.
The group included his brother David, older by two years, also never married. The brothers had lived together, socialized in the same circle of friends, shared the same love of anything mechanical.
Lorie said, “They’ve never been separated.”
She spoke about how Gary was specific in everything he did, even in the Waterloo home he shared with his brother, “he had to have everything just perfect.”
Gary was also a good neighbour on their street, the kind of guy who would introduce himself if someone new moved in and offer to help with whatever was needed.
He had created his own family, surrounded by people who meant something to him whether they were related or not.
Then cancer hit the family. Duncan died in 2014 and two of Duncan’s biological daughters are cancer survivors.
The disease didn’t run in Gary’s side of the family.
He was sure he could beat it following diagnoses just weeks earlier.
Brenda said, “The sad part is he had big plans: He was working all these extra hours and when he turned 55 he wanted to take the train across Canada.”
He never made it. Gary died Oct. 23, age 53.
Brenda said her brother’s death is a good lesson about never waiting to follow a dream.