Gary Paul Whaley, 65

October 7, 2009 Contributor
Gary Paul Whaley
Gary Paul Whaley

Gary Paul Whaley, 65; a long time universal health care advocate and a former president of the national Community Research Initiative, Inc. died Wednesday, October 7th in Fulton, NY.

Mr. Whaley was born in Oswego, NY and he had maintained homes in Fulton, NY and Washington, D.C.

Mr. Whaley was the great grandson of Mary Elizabeth (O’Toole) Meeker of Oswego, NY. He was a graduate of Oswego High School and he served in the United States Air Force, having been stationed at RAF Molesworth, England from 1961 to 1964.

Gary had many years of experience in management, advertising, finance, marketing, and public relations within the health care industry.

He believed that the first step towards the solution of any problem is optimism. He was always looking for new and better ways to solve the problems that plague society. Gary would seek out people who were seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems inventing new approaches and creating sustainable solutions to change society for the better. Joseph Epstein once said, “All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things and what we do to make them come about… We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.”

Gary is survived by three brothers: Michael Philo, Richard Philo, Neil Whaley, nine sisters: Karen Ann Potter, Cheri Robertson, Linda Lancett, Katherine Pritchard, Deborah Connor, Annie Carpenter, Sandra Wendell, Susan Harrell, and Sherry Likougu, and several nieces and nephews.

There will be no funeral services or calling hours. Burial will be held privately. The Sugar Funeral Home, Inc., 224 W. 2nd St. S. Fulton has care of the arrangements.

Gary wanted to wish everyone “Happy Everything.” missing or outdated ad config

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10 Comments

  1. karen and family so sorry to hear about your brother, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

  2. Gary was a very important person in my life, he showed everyone how to have fun and how to enjoy their life. I will miss him. I will always remember 1/3 1/3 1/3.We always had good adventures and Gary is now on one of his own. I just want to say good night sweet prince and I hope to see you again one day. linda

  3. My office staff and I will miss Gary. We enjoyed it very much when he would come to visit us and talk about important issues of the day. We admired his courage and strength. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gary and his family.

    Sal Lanza Law Office

  4. Wish we were sharing a deli-sandwich and soup at Mr. Henry’s, or a bowl of chili at Old Ebbitts Grill! Remember our awesome ferris-wheel ride together in the Beer-Garten overlooking Berlin? Danke fur alles mein “Schatz”,
    Aufwiedersehn,(Till We Meet Again)
    Love you, Christine

  5. Today we gave back a brother, uncle a friend. He was there when you needed him, never short on advice. He was always the first to too say I got it, had more jokes than the national debt. Anyone who crossed his path became his friend. Most of the time he did stupid things just to prove they could be done .He always knew someone was worse off than him. When he won he showed it, when he lost, he was gracious. We will always love him. My last words to my beloved brother were see you on the other side, he said OK! His last words to me were call me later.
    I will…………
    Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul he’ll keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the lord my soul he’ll take. The Lord did!
    I love you ,Michael xxx

  6. In the words of my Uncle Gary said to me on my wedding day “May the wind be at your back and the sun upon your face”! I will always remember the good times. I love you Uncle Gary.
    Michelle

  7. Having known Gary for some 33 years, I extend my deepest condolences to the Whaley family and to Larry.

  8. To my Mom, I sure hope you do not have to do that all on your own, but i do know you will if need be!!!! To my dad and Kyle thanks for taking care of my mom without you’s it wouldn’t of been easy for her!!! Uncle Gary– We will meet again until then find my in-laws,and others enjoy your new life!!! Love always, Lori,Joe

  9. Gary was my brother that I never met. I am so saddened by his passing as I had planned and looked forward to meeting him “soon”. I am 47 now and he knew about me for most of his life I assume…but I never knew about him until a few years ago. We emailed back and forth sharing photos and stories. He clearly was a very interesting, caring and intelligent person. Anyone reading this that would like to share anything about Gary with me, please send me an email. Rest in peace my brother. [email protected]

  10. Goodbye my brother, you are now in God’s Loving Arms. I will miss you and look forward to meeting you again one day. You deserved better, but still gave back much more than you were given.
    Love,
    Susan Whaley Harrell

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