Gary Harding Sr.

Gary Ray Harding Sr., 77, passed away on Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Odessa, Texas.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 4pm on Saturday, July 16, 2022 at Refuge Ministries, 1211 E. 57th St., Odessa, Texas, 79762 with Pastor Tim O’Neal officiating.

Gary was born during the great flood of 1945 in Tell City, Indiana on March 2 to Blanche Kellems Harding and Ernest Harding. He grew up in Onarga, Illinois before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1963 where he worked as a radio technician during the Vietnam War. Gary married Virginia Johnson Clark on February 6, 1976 in Odessa, Texas, where they’ve lived happily, in the same house on the North side of Odessa, for the last 46 years.

Gary was a baseball coach for many years in the 1980s and took great pride in watching the kids have fun on the field. As a husband, father, son, and brother, he was loving, encouraging, and a boisterous force, always going the extra mile to call and talk to those he loved. A natural storyteller, Gary never met a stranger, and those who knew him knew this well. His absence has left a hole in the hearts of us all.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents, Blanche and Ernest Harding, five brothers, Ernest Jr., James, Larry, Roy, Hollis, and one sister, Mildred Bailey-Eheart Harding.

Gary is survived by his wife, Virginia Clark Harding, two daughters, Kim Clark Dickerson and Jenny Clark Brown, his only son, Gary R. Harding Jr., two sisters, Marilyn Harding Tilstra and Jeannie Harding Nichoalds, one brother, Hargis Harding Sr., 9 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.