Gary Joe Huett

Gary Huett, 72, of Fort Collins died on February 1, 2016.

Gary was born February 10, 1943 in Denver, and grew up on a farm near Wattenberg. He graduated from Brighton High School in 1961.

Gary had an engineer's mind, and he put that to good use in earning a Mechanical Engineering degree from CSU in 1965. A few months before graduation, he married the love of his life, Karen Luelf of Fort Collins.

Gary served his country in Vietnam in 1967, and was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in action. In good ways and bad, Gary's experiences in Southeast Asia affected him for the rest of his life.

After returning home, Gary went on with the work of starting his career and starting a family. His daughter Gina was born in 1968 and son Mike was born in 1970. He worked for Public Service Company of Colorado for his entire career until retiring in 2002.

Gary led an active life, and enjoyed bicycling, hiking 14ers and coaching youth sports teams. Later in life, Gary participated in Larimer County Search and Rescue, and came to loathe the silly mistakes made by novice hikers. He also had a special affinity for the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney World, where he would often hop on the ride several times in a row.

Gary had an unmatched passion for cookies and customer service, occasionally demanding (and receiving) the highest level of service from the local cookie shop. His engineer's mind was kept sharp later in life by thoroughly reading instruction manuals, sometimes reading them multiple times all the way through. He was unquestionably a bear for details.

Gary was preceded in death by his brother Gale; father Joe and mother Arlyne.

Gary is survived by his wife, Karen of Ft. Collins; daughter Gina of Denver; son Mike and daughter-in-law Becky of Broomfield; grandson JP of Broomfield; and brother and sister-in-law Dennis and Sharron, of Madison, Wisconsin.

Gary was crazy about his grandson, and enjoyed watching JP play baseball, soccer, basketballand golf.