Gary Duane Irvine, 69, fell asleep in the Lord in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Gary was born January 23, 1956, in Long Beach, California to Richard Charles and Betty Ruth (Gibson) Irvine. He spent his boyhood sailing, fishing, and camping. He was a self-made man. His sense of adventure and entrepreneurship showed itself from an early age. At 14 years old he was mowing lawns to pay for flying lessons. When his friends were buying their first cars, he was buying an airplane. Throughout his entire life he demonstrated a dogged determination to make ends meet and to turn dreams into realities. Whether it was starting a business, building a deck, or remodeling the entire house, he was always in motion, never finished, always talking about and working on the next thing. He was practical, patient, and hardworking. Between endless projects and business pursuits, he fortified a lifelong career in materials testing and research in the aerospace and paving industries, at McDonnell Douglas and Northop in California in the 1980s and 1990s, and for 30 years at the Asphalt Institute in Lexington, Kentucky.
Traveling was a regular adventure that Gary especially loved. His work afforded him to travel all over the United States, from Alaska and California to Washington DC, and everywhere between. One experience that was especially memorable and moving, and which he repeated many times, was visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. The prospect of death, and being prepared for it, occupied much of his final thoughts. In the last years of his life, he had been providentially reunited to certain old friends needing mutual forgiveness. It effected him deeply. More important than every adventure he ever took, and more important than anything he ever built or acquired, was to be with his family, to love people and to be at peace. Indeed, his final ambition was to abandon all ambition, extend mutual forgiveness to whoever needed it, and to fulfill God’s will. As he took his final breaths surrounded by his wife and sons, and his daughter by telephone, his very last words were “I love” — spelled out by pointing to an alphabet. Being unable to speak and too weak to finish the sentence, his beautiful, tired eyes said the rest.
He was utterly devoted to his family. He gave all his time and strength and wisdom, and every resource he could spare, to help build up the lives and careers of his children. He was especially and unwaveringly devoted to his wife of nearly 47 years, Judy. He did everything for her, and would do nothing without her.
Gary was, and remains, a beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was preceded in death by his father, Richard Charles Irvine. He is survived by his wife, Judy (Pratt); his mother, Betty (Gibson); his sisters, Pamela Ayres and Jeannie Irvine; his son Jason and his wife, Angela, and their children Aaron, Zoe, Lucy, and Ethan; his son Richard and his wife, Marta, and their children Jonathan, Iris, and Evelyn; his daughter Sharnay and her husband, Jeremiah Niemuth, and their children Lucas, Araya, Ember, and Serenity; and his heart-adopted Alaskan sweetpeas Jordan, Emerson, and Orion.
A visitation and funeral honoring Gary’s life were held Tuesday February 25, 2025 at New Life Church in Louisville, Kentucky, with Pastor Carroll Parrish officiating.