Submitted by his wife

Gary was an Eagle Scout and a U.S. Army veteran. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Katy and had served for 5 years as a City of Katy Councilman. He was dedicated to his community and his fellow man. Over the years he belonged to 43 service organizations. He excelled in all of those organizations by being Chairman‚ President‚ Person of the Year‚ etc.‚ etc.‚ etc.

Gary volunteered for 31 years with the Katy Fire Department. During that time he served the department as Assistant Chief‚ Rescue Captain‚ Suppression Captain‚ Lieutenant‚ and Quartermaster. At the time of his death he was living his dream of being Chief of the Katy Fire Department. Gary had a passion for training firefighters. He founded and served as coordinator of the Katy Area Vehicle Extrication School for twenty years. Gary served as an instructor at many fire training schools across Texas. Among those were the Texas A & M Municipal Fireman’s Training School for 20 plus years.

During his years in the fire service Gary was honored with many awards. Among those were Firefighter of the Year for the Katy Fire Department‚ Firefighter of the Year for the Gulf Coast Firefighter’s Association‚ and Firefighter of the Year for the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas. Gary was awarded Instructor of the Year from the Brazoria and Fort Bend Counties as well as Instructor of the Year from the Texas Society of Fire Service Instructors.

Gary is survived by his wife of 37 years‚ Jo Ann Tilton‚ and his daughter and son-in-law‚ Laurie Tilton and Rusty Anderson.