Gary Lee McGehee heard his Master’s call on March 25, 2014 after a long illness. The Funeral service was held on March 29, 2014 at the First United Methodist Church of Mertzon with Pastor Mark Smith officiating. The burial followed in Mertzon Cemetery.
Gary was an avid rancher and always said his job was to raise natural grasses with improved conservation practices and to use livestock for the harvest. He enjoyed ranching and loved raising his family on the ranch. He served his love for agriculture as State Director of the Texas Farm Bureau and as a member of the American Sheep Industry Association Executive Board. He served on the Irion County School Board, the local Farm Bureau board and was a member of the Mertzon Methodist Church and Mertzon Lions Club.
Gary was born in Clifton, Texas, on January 6, 1948. He was raised by his parents, grandparents, and a host of friends in Morgan, Texas. Upon his graduation from Morgan High School in 1965, he came to visit his father in Mertzon where he was reintroduced to the love of his life, Carolyn Tullos. He and Carolyn were married August 23, 1969. After graduation from Angelo State University, they moved to Pottsville, Texas, then Wink, Texas, to teach and coach. They returned to Irion County in 1976 to begin a career in agriculture.
He was the proud father of Dr. Michael Lee McGehee of Houston, Maggie Lynn McGehee Byrd of Muleshoe, and Miles Lane McGehee of Halifax, Novia Scotia. He was Pawpaw to Garrett Lee, Wylie Lane, and Olivia Monroe Byrd of Muleshoe, Texas.
He is preceded in death by his father, Harold McGehee, his step mother, Martha McGehee, and his step father, Larry Strickland. He is survived by his mother, Betty Strickland of Arden, Texas, his parents-inlaw, Bill and Margie Tullos of San Angelo, his wife, three children, three grandchildren, and his three brothers, Dicky, Ricky, and Max McGehee.