Gary Neil Ford

Gary Neil Ford 

December 7, 1951 – April 21, 2023

VISITATION: Friday, May 5th from 12noon to 1pm at the West Center Chapel, followed by SERVICES at 1pm.  Interment, Evergreen Memorial Park with Military Honors.  To view a live broadcast of the service, please visit www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Cast” button at the top of the home page.

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Preceded in death by parents, Lillian Heuton Ford and Wilber Ford; brothers, Lyle Ford, John Ford, and Ronnie Dean Ford; sisters, Verna West, Janice Mongar, Karan Mantzaris, and Elaine Jensen.  Survived by brother, George Ford (Kristen) of Lafayette, Louisiana; brothers-in-law, Bill Mantzaris and Darrell Jensen; many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews; many additional family and friends.

Gary Neil Ford was born in 1951 and raised by his parents Lillian and Wilber Ford until his passing in Carroll, Iowa.  They lived here for 11 years when it was decided they would move to Omaha to be closer to family. In 1971, Gary was drafted into the Army Medical Corps. He was trained to be a Combat Medic until 1973 where he received an honorable discharge and started his civilian life in Petaluma, Ca.  He shortly later moved to San Francisco, CA where he lived for 25 years.  He again moved to Petaluma, Ca and lived for 10 years.  During this time Gary received his Bachelors Degree with honors from the University of California-Santa Cruz in Sociology and then went on to receive his Masters with Honors from the University of California-San Francisco  in Health Administration. While furthering his education Gary worked as a Business Administrator for Lillich & Charles Attorneys at Law for 20 years. He retired in 2010 and moved to Omaha where he had been for the last 13 years until his passing.

Throughout Gary’s life he was quite active in many churches in California along with his mother, Lillian.  He also was a member and Co-Founder of the Association for Law Office Services in San Francisco.  Gary was a Research Associate for the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda , MD and volunteered and worked with the Veteran’s Administration Central Office and US Department of Labor both in Washington D.C..  He was also the Executive Director  for the United Scleroderma Foundation in Santa Cruz.

Gary was very much involved with his family throughout the years.  He many of times was in charge of the family reunions, parties and holidays.  He always made sure everyone would be  singing, dancing, laughing, playing games, eating great food and having fun during all the events he planned.  Gary also spent much time with many of his nephews (great) & nieces (great).  Spent hours upon hours gaming with them, gardening, and enjoying every minute possible.  He loved his family first and foremost and would do anything for them.   He showed this with being a loving and helpful caregiver to his brother, John, for many years and also to his sister, Janice, until her passing.  He was a very beloved brother and uncle to us all and he will be deeply missed.

 

3 Comments

  • Christopher todd Posted May 4, 2023 7:03 pm

    Gary you’ll forever be missed and loved. You helped a lot of people some without them even knowing it. You were a blessing to everyone you met. Thank you and you’ll forever be missed Gary. Chris todd

  • sara pattat Posted May 5, 2023 11:46 am

    GARY IM GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR being my best friend love sara

  • I Spencer Stromberg Posted November 14, 2023 1:57 pm

    Gary was my supervisor at Lillick in Charles and he was one of the best!
    He also has a good friend and I knew his mom very well Lillian, we took many trips to her home in Petaluma in the 90s!!
    Gary Ford was the top five people in my life!!!
    I will miss him tremendously!!
    God bless him and his family!!!

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