Gerald Yates

Gerald “Gary” Dallas Yates, 74, a resident of Crooked River Ranch, Ore., passed away of heart failure on Sept. 4, 2007.

Gary was born in Atlanta, N.Y., on Dec. 4, 1932, to Frank and Thelma Yates. He served in the Marine Corps 1st Airwing Division between 1952 and 1955.

He worked for the National Park Service at Glacier National Park and Pecos National Monument in Santa Fe, N.M., and as a cowboy on ranches in the West from 1955 to 1978. He retired in 1995. He was an author of two books: “Summits & Trails” and “Jess.”

He married Karla Keeney in Henry’s Fork, Idaho, on July 21, 1979. They both climbed and hiked in Glacier Park, the Cascades, Rocky Mountains, Canadian Rockies, New England, Scotland, volcanoes in Mexico, Himalayas in Nepal and other places.

Gary and Karla were residents of Whitefish for 12 years, where they were active runners, hikers, climbers, and cross-country skiers. They both attended Flathead Valley Community College in the late 1980s.

Gary was an avid runner and bicyclist, was actively involved with the University of Oregon’s Osher Life Long Learning and was a member of the Sierra Club.

He was a true renaissance man who also played guitar and violin.

Survivors include his wife Karla, of Crooked River Ranch, Ore.; stepdaughter Julie Brown, of Pocatello, Idaho; brothers Robert Yates, of Avoca, N.Y., Victor Yates, of Pittsford, N.Y., and David Yates, of Savona, N.Y.; and two grandchildren.

He will be very missed by all his family and friends.

No services will be held at this time. Gary’s ashes will be scattered in Glacier Park next summer.