Gary grew up in the South End of Toledo, Ohio, attending Harvard Elementary School and graduating from Libbey High School in 1962. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toledo in 1968 while working part-time as an engineer-in-training at Surface Combustion Corporation.

In 1969 Gary and his wife Lori relocated from West Toledo to Perrysburg where they have lived since, raising their two children, Gary Lee and Kristin Lynn.

In 1972 he joined SSOE, Inc. Engineers-Architects as a Senior Project Manager and was elected a partner in the firm in 1981. He is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Ohio, California, Indiana, Alaska and Arizona.

Since early retirement in 1998, he has been able to devote more time to his hobbies of local history, reading, fishing, kayaking, piano, nature, computers, travel and  genealogy.

Gary has had a long-time interest in history and maintains an extensive home library of history books, including many local history books about Perrysburg, Maumee and the Maumee River Valley. He has spent many summer days paddling his kayak and exploring on land the Foot of the Rapids vicinity, from Bluegrass (Hollister's) Island to Audubon (Big) Island, conducting research on geography and locations of the river fords and bridges.

In 2008, he co-authored and published another local history book, The Maumee & Western Reserve Road: Its History and a Survey of the Milestones.

He is a member of the Ohio Historical Society, Historic Perrysburg, Inc. and is a founding member of the Perrysburg Area Historic Museum.