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Gary Garner was born in
Dodge City
,
Kansas
, to Frank and Madge Garner on August 14, 1930. When he was seven, the
family moved to
Eugene
,
Oregon
, where they remained for one year before coming to
Texas
.
He attended
Sam
Houston
Junior High School
in
Amarillo
and in the seventh grade joined the band at the urging of his two best
friends. Mr. Eads, the band director, gave him a baritone sax. Since it soon
proved to be more than he could handle on his bike when he tried to take it
home to practice, he convinced his parents to buy the most portable
instrument he could find--a flute.
In high school,
Gary
also took up the saxophone and the clarinet and began playing in local dance
bands, which he continued to do throughout college and for many years
thereafter.
Following graduation
from high school,
Gary
enrolled at Texas Tech as a geology major, which quickly proved to be a poor
choice.
Gary
had resisted being a music major because that would most likely lead to a
career in teaching--something he was determined to avoid at all costs. After
the geology debacle, however, he became a music major by default.
In 1951,
Gary
married Marielien Griffin of
Plainview
, whom he had met in the college band. They have three sons: Brad, who lives
in
Cincinnati
; Bryan, who lives in
Dallas
; and Blaire, who lives in
Los Angeles
. Mariellen died in 1994.
College was
interrupted by a three-year stint in the Air Force.
Gary
was stationed at Reese Air Force Base in
Lubbock
and assigned to the band, where he served as leader of the dance band and
assistant bandleader. He didn't realize it at the time, but it proved to be
a valuable experience in preparation for the career he had earlier been so
adamantly opposed to.
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Although
Gary
didn't complete his ES from Texas Tech until the summer of 1955, he had
already begun teaching on a half-time basis at Hutchinson Junior High in
Lubbock
. After four years at
Hutchinson
, he became band director at
Monterey
High School
in
Lubbock
. He served there only one year and then was offered the position as
marching band director at the
University
of
Southern California
. During his four years at the university, he completed his master's degree
and most of the work on his doctorate. He received his DMA in 1967.
In 1963, he became Director of Bands at West Texas State University, where
he remained for the next 39 years until retiring in 2002, The WTSU Symphonic
Band performed ten times at TMEA, twice at the national CBDNA meetings, and
twice at Carnegie Hall.
In 2002,
Gary
married Mary Irene Stevens.
Gary
is active doing clinics and the usual retirement stuff. |
Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame