1945
Gary
2018
Gary Olinger
October 10, 1945 — January 20, 2018
Gary Olinger ,72, of Hickory, passed after an almost six year journey with a cancer diagnosis. He chose to do things his own way. There were bumps in the road along the way, but most of the time, both he and his wife were able to live a normal life. He finally succumbed to the illness on January 20th , 2018 at Catawba Regional Hospice.
Gary was born in Fort Worth, Texas to C. Gordon Olinger and Mildred Leard Olinger on October 10, 1945. He was preceded in death by his father, C. Gordon Olinger.
Most of his childhood was lived in the Ford City, PA area. Gary was a 1963 graduate of Ford City High School and was very proud to graduate from Juniata College (Huntingdon, PA) in 1967. In 1968, he married Monica Cieply , after a courtship of six years that began in high school. He served as a radioman in the US Navy from 1968 - 72. During his enlistment, he and Monica lived in MD and VA.
Although Gary had a variety of jobs -- newspaper writng, accounting, auditing, announcing, scorekeeping -- his main professional pursuit was sports writing (PA and NC). His interest in small college football brought him to Hickory to work in the sports division at the Hickory Daily Record when Dan Richards was the sports editor. Gary was the sports editor at the Observer News Enterprise in Newton for nine years -- 1985 thru 1994. (No doubt, he would have found reasons to edit this obituary!)
He was not a typical sports fan. He quietly followed LSU football, University of Kentucky basketball, and Pittsburgh Pirate baseball; preferring to be alone at these times. He liked to see the Pittsburgh Steelers win because it mattered to his friends and family in western Pennsylvania.
He was fond of watching small college football played on real grass; loved to research sports played prior to 1968; and enjoyed visits to Tiger Stadium (Baton Rouge), Rupp Arena (Lexington), Churchill Downs (Louisville), Cooperstown (NY) and other sports venues. His hobby was compiling sports statistics.
Despite his illness, he was able to fulfill his desire to visit NYC in 2014 and to attend his 50th Juniata College reunion in June, 2017.
He is survived by his wife, Monica, and their beloved cat Nikki; his mother, Mildred Olinger; brothers, Rob and Doug (Marie) all of Lower Burrell, PA; sister-in-law, Eileen Cieply Bartosiewicz (Marion) of Ford City, PA and brother-in-law, Tom Cieply (Pat) of Kittanning, PA. Gary has four nieces: Hannah and Nicole Olinger, Vanessa Sitch (Kevin) and Nicole Cieply; one nephew: Andrew Bartosiewicz (Lonya); three grandnieces: Adalalie Bartosiewicz, Julia Bartosiewicz and Alyssa Miller; and two grandnephews: Jacob Miller and Thomas Miller.
Gary was fortunate to have excellent support from many during his illness. Special recognition goes to his acupuncturist, Bridgette Barker, and hospice nurse, Beth Whitener. These two women are angels in disguise!
A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 9th at 4:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church (833 5th St. SE, Hickory, NC 28602) with Reverend Melissa Mummert officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Cats' Cradle , PO Box 1915, Morganton, NC 28680 or Catawba Regional Hospice, 3975 Robinson Road, Newton, NC 28658.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gary Lee Olinger, please visit our floral store.
Gary was born in Fort Worth, Texas to C. Gordon Olinger and Mildred Leard Olinger on October 10, 1945. He was preceded in death by his father, C. Gordon Olinger.
Most of his childhood was lived in the Ford City, PA area. Gary was a 1963 graduate of Ford City High School and was very proud to graduate from Juniata College (Huntingdon, PA) in 1967. In 1968, he married Monica Cieply , after a courtship of six years that began in high school. He served as a radioman in the US Navy from 1968 - 72. During his enlistment, he and Monica lived in MD and VA.
Although Gary had a variety of jobs -- newspaper writng, accounting, auditing, announcing, scorekeeping -- his main professional pursuit was sports writing (PA and NC). His interest in small college football brought him to Hickory to work in the sports division at the Hickory Daily Record when Dan Richards was the sports editor. Gary was the sports editor at the Observer News Enterprise in Newton for nine years -- 1985 thru 1994. (No doubt, he would have found reasons to edit this obituary!)
He was not a typical sports fan. He quietly followed LSU football, University of Kentucky basketball, and Pittsburgh Pirate baseball; preferring to be alone at these times. He liked to see the Pittsburgh Steelers win because it mattered to his friends and family in western Pennsylvania.
He was fond of watching small college football played on real grass; loved to research sports played prior to 1968; and enjoyed visits to Tiger Stadium (Baton Rouge), Rupp Arena (Lexington), Churchill Downs (Louisville), Cooperstown (NY) and other sports venues. His hobby was compiling sports statistics.
Despite his illness, he was able to fulfill his desire to visit NYC in 2014 and to attend his 50th Juniata College reunion in June, 2017.
He is survived by his wife, Monica, and their beloved cat Nikki; his mother, Mildred Olinger; brothers, Rob and Doug (Marie) all of Lower Burrell, PA; sister-in-law, Eileen Cieply Bartosiewicz (Marion) of Ford City, PA and brother-in-law, Tom Cieply (Pat) of Kittanning, PA. Gary has four nieces: Hannah and Nicole Olinger, Vanessa Sitch (Kevin) and Nicole Cieply; one nephew: Andrew Bartosiewicz (Lonya); three grandnieces: Adalalie Bartosiewicz, Julia Bartosiewicz and Alyssa Miller; and two grandnephews: Jacob Miller and Thomas Miller.
Gary was fortunate to have excellent support from many during his illness. Special recognition goes to his acupuncturist, Bridgette Barker, and hospice nurse, Beth Whitener. These two women are angels in disguise!
A memorial service will be held on Friday, February 9th at 4:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church (833 5th St. SE, Hickory, NC 28602) with Reverend Melissa Mummert officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Cats' Cradle , PO Box 1915, Morganton, NC 28680 or Catawba Regional Hospice, 3975 Robinson Road, Newton, NC 28658.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gary Lee Olinger, please visit our floral store.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Gary Olinger, please visit our flower store.
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