Gary Cormier

Gary Joseph Cormier died of cancer on June 17, 2016 at RiverStone Hospice House in Billings. Born December 20, 1940, at St. Vincent Hospital, Gary spent his initial years in a log cabin built by his father, Joseph, on his Grandfather's farm on Wyman Creek. Located on Blue Creek Bench southeast of Billings, neighbor to the Crow Indian Reservation, the family farm grew, adding ranch land along Pryor Creek and eventually East Pryor Creek, the latter acquired from the Snyder Sheep Company. As he grew up, Gary would continue to cowboy on the family ranch during summer breaks and again later after the Army, up until 1969 when his father retired and the ranch was sold. During his adolescent and teenage years, Gary would attend Fratt School (now St. Francis Upper), achieve the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts, and attend Billings Central Catholic High School where he competed in Track and Field, medaling at the State Competitions both his Junior and Senior years. After graduating Central in 1959, he would attend Montana State College (now Montana State University) in Bozeman, living and making lifelong friends at the historic Story Mansion as a member of the Sigma Alpha Fraternity. He graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Economics with a Minor in Range Management. After college, Gary was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army serving his active duty t¬our at Fort Benning, Georgia, qualifying as a parachutist at the Fort Benning Airborne School. In 1965 while on leave to visit some of his fraternity brothers in Washington D.C., one of them set him up on a blind date with a young woman named Ingrid. After carrying on a long distance romance, they were married at the Fort Benning Post Chapel on April 16, 1966. They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary just this past April. Soon after they were married, Gary completed his active duty and returned with Ingrid to Montana where he began a lifelong career in the agricultural real estate business which has taken him all over eastern and central Montana and northern Wyoming. He received the 2nd license issued in the State of Montana as Certified General Appraiser and, after joining the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 1986, received the designation of ARA (Accredited Rural Appraiser). In 1967 they welcomed their first son, Jeff, to the world. Two years later they had their second son, Brian. Tragically, they lost Brian at the age of five to a congenital heart defect. In 1978 they had their third son, John, named for their mutual friend who had set them up on their blind date. While still a young child on the family ranch, a neighbor gave Gary a ride in a Super Cub Plane, and Gary's passion for flying was born. During college he would earn his private pilot's license in a Cessna 140. Returning to Montana after the Army, with help from the new G.I. Bill he obtained his Commercial Pilot Rating, Multi-Engine Rating, Instrument Rating (certified to fly in limited visibility), and for a short time was a Flight Instructor. His passion would see him log over 3,500 flight hours including several trips to visit Ingrid's family in Michigan as well as a summer with the Lynch Flying Service working Fire Patrol for the United States Forest Service. Photography, Gary's other life passion, was inspired by his mother, Margaret. Having gradated as a Nurse from St Vincent six years before his birth, she was also an amateur photographer. Picking up the camera himself, he would win $100 in a local photography competition as well as become the school photographer for both the newspaper and the yearbook in high school and then again in college. As his children grew, Gary was rarely seen without a camera around his neck and a video camera in his hand, going so far as to have a darkroom built in the family home to perform his own developing. He leaves behind several boxes filled with his photography along with an untold amount of digital photos and home movies. He will be remembered, not only through images of him, but countless shots of the life and beauty of the land, friends, and family that surrounded him and seen through his eyes. Following the advice of his Grandmother, Katherine, to travel while one is still young enough to enjoy it, Gary and Ingrid have taken several cruises over the past 10 years to Canada, Alaska, New England, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal, filling album after album with beautiful memories. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Margaret, his sister Leanne who died in infancy, his brother Jerry and his son Brian. He is survived by his wife Ingrid, his sons Jeff and John, and his brothers Gene and Gordon. The family would like to thank St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church for their ministry as well as the staff at RiverStone Hospice for providing excellent and compassionate care in his final days. A Vigil Service will be held at Dahl Funeral Chapel, 10 Yellowstone Ave, Billings at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, 2016 where all are welcome to come remember Gary and share their memories. On Friday, July 1, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. there will be a Memorial Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 2055 Woody Dr, Billings, followed by the interment at Mountview Cemetery, 1704 Central Ave, Billings, and finally at 1:00 p.m. a Celebration of Life at the Knights of Columbus, 2216 Grand Ave, Billings. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Billings Area Catholic Education Trust (BACET) at billingscatholicschoolsfoundation.org or a charity of your choice.