Gary P. Herr went to be with our heavenly Father on May 3, 2021 with his devoted wife of 62 years by his side. Born August 2, 1940 to Paul and Joy (DeVore) Herr in Lincoln, NE. He was a caring man, very passionate about his family, career, church, and volunteer work.
Family was very important, and Gary enjoyed coaching Little League Baseball for his sons when they were young. In addition, he was very involved in Boy Scouts and was in charge of training pack leaders. He had a lifetime membership to the PTA. He also enjoyed going to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s events. Gary was known to take many, many pictures of family events and enjoyed looking through the photos.
He started his 40+-year career in the food distribution industry as a soda jerk at Wagey Drug. In 1958, he became a truck driver for Pegler in Lincoln. Soon after his salesmanship was recognized, and he was given his own sales route in Omaha. In 1975, he came back to Lincoln and continued with Sysco. His career took he and Mary to West Des Moines, IA in 1989. He retired in 1998 as President and CEO of Sysco, IA. After retiring he moved back to Lincoln to be close to family and friends.
Gary was a lifetime member of Trinity United Methodist (Lincoln) church. He was very devout in his faith and dedicated a large portion of his time in retirement to the church including such projects as the new church building, chair set-up committee, and 2 mission trips to Africa.
In his retirement years, Gary continued to be very active, including serving in the Lincoln-Cornhusker Kiwanis, holding various leadership positions within the club including President and Lt. Governor. He loved selling tickets to the yearly pancake feed fundraiser and his family often gathered at the event to enjoy the food. For many, many years Gary delivered for Meals on Wheels and volunteered with the Community Blood Bank. Both Gary and Mary won a national award for their work with the Blood Bank. He enjoyed all of the friends he met and served with in his mission of giving back to the community.
He is so loved and will be missed by his family and friends.
Survivors include his loving wife, Mary (Martin) Herr of Lincoln; sons, Tom (Pam) Herr of Milford, NE, Ben (Amy) Herr of Lincoln; daughter, Nancy (John) McCoy of Kearney, NE; grandchildren, Sarah (Art) Floyd, Doug (Deann) Herr, Kurt (Kari) Herr, Elliott McCoy, Paul Herr, Jacob (Tessa) McCoy, Austin McCoy; great grandchildren, Aiden Floyd, Adyline and Chantz Herr, Bailey, Carson and baby girl Herr, Dean and Quinn Herr; sister, Barbara Kearns of Arlington Heights, IL; nephew, Alan Kearns. Preceded in death by his parents; son, Michael Gary Herr; niece, Judy Doran.
Celebration of Life service will be held 1 p.m., Friday, May 7, 2021 at Roper & Sons South Lincoln Chapel, 3950 Hohensee Dr., Lincoln. Prior burial will be 9:30 a.m. Friday (5-7-21) at Wyuka Cemetery meeting at the O St. entrance.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday (5-6-21) at Roper & Sons South Lincoln Chapel, 3950 Hohensee Dr., Lincoln, NE.
Face coverings are required.
Memorial contributions may be directed towards Trinity United Methodist Church or Lincoln Cornhusker Kiwanis (cornhuskerkiwanis.com).