‘He was the nicest man in the world’

“There isn’t anybody that’s going to replace Gary. It’s just really sad. He was probably one of the most generous people any of us have ever known.”

Honald, who grew up in The Dalles, was a cherry orchardist, downtown property owner, and former owner of a sign company — formerly Honald Sign Co. and now Meadow Outdoor Advertising — and Honald Crane, now owned by his son.

Honald was born July 12, 1935, in Portland and moved to The Dalles at a young age. He is survived by his wife Barbara, son Michael and daughter-in-law Dena and grandson Spencer; his daughter Pandi Hart and two grandchildren Trent and Karissa; his sister, Helen Elsmore and his cousin Don Anderson and numerous nieces and nephews.

“He was a very giving man,” said fellow Kiwanian Dennis Stocks. Honald was instrumental in building the transportation center (now the veterans’ service office), helped form The Dalles Trade Center Association, and was a founding force in the Mural Society. He supported the Civic Auditorium, worked to refurbish the Granada Theater, beautify the intersection of third and Webber, and get period lighting installed downtown.

He also housed the Santa float, featured in the annual Starlight Parade the trade association started, as well as the Kiwanis parade train, the flags that fly throughout the community every holiday and the Cherry Sweetheart float. He drove the Santa float on weekends every December so kids could go on rides with Santa, and purchased numerous gifts for kids at Christmastime.

He died while on an annual fishing trip with friends at his family cabin in Grant County, said Stocks, who was with him on the trip.

The ATV he was riding went off the road and down a 25-foot embankment. His friends spent an hour and 45 minutes attempting to revive him while waiting for medics, Stocks said.

His funeral is set for Saturday, June 6, at 1 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Honald was named The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 volunteer of the year and was also named the man of the year.

For many years, Munro said, he’d been the “backbone” of the Kiwanis Steak Feed, the club’s biggest fundraiser and an event that draws up to 800 people yearly.

“That’s what everybody says — how are we going to do this? He is the backbone,” she said of Honald, a 43-year Kiwanian.

“All of this stuff is stored in his hangar. He organizes all the drivers and trucks and getting everything set up and packing it all up and hauling it all back.”

Mike Courtney grew up near Honald and said, “The things that he has done for the city of The Dalles, for the people of The Dalles, go beyond what most people can imagine.

“You know, you’ve seen Gary’s name in the paper occasionally but what you don’t see is when Gary’s getting his hands dirty doing things.”

“If you want something stored for whatever, you go to Gary’s barn. If you’ve got a project, Gary’s the guy who’s the first guy in line to put up money or manpower or both,” Courtney said. “I can’t say enough good things about him, he’s really, really, really going to be missed,” he said.

Stocks said joining Honald’s orbit meant getting involved in volunteering.

“If you volunteer to be a part of Gary, you’d better prepare and be on time, because he will be there early to pick you up,” Stocks said.

“Anybody that knows Gary, you wind up volunteering, knowingly, willingly or unwillingly. It’s all good.”

“It’s funny, the people he touched,” Stocks said. He spoke to one worker who said, “’He’s the only person who’d come over here on a hot day and he’d bring us a milkshake.’ He was always that thoughtful.

He always gave away mountains of the food he’d grown, from corn to cherries to peaches.

For at least 12 meetings in a row at Kiwanis, Stocks said, Honald had been putting a happy dollar in the jar so he could share the good news that he was 80 and was celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary.

He wasn’t quite 80 — his birthday was July 12, and his 60th wasn’t going to be until Dec. 27 — but he was making weekly reminders so nobody would forget.

It became such a reliable part of the meeting that his fellow Kiwanians began reciting it along with him. The Kiwanis Club plans to continue the tradition in his honor, Stocks said.

“He was truly the nicest person in The Dalles,” Munro said.

“If somebody needed help he’d open his wallet and pull out a $100 bill and say, ‘Here, will this help?’”

Gary had recently taken his sister Helen zip lining for her 75th birthday, and told Courtney last week, “‘I’m ready to go again.’ He was probably in better shape than an awful lot of people 30 years younger.”

He was enlisted in the Army during the Berlin Crisis and he and Barbara lived in Germany. Returning to The Dalles, he worked as a painter for The Dalles and Ice Harbor dams, then joined his father’s sign company.

Mary Stocks, who worked for Honald, said, “Gary truly lived every day of his life.

“He didn’t wait for things to happen, he made things happen. Gary loved his community and gave much to the people of this town. Gary has been the best employer I have ever had. I will miss my friend.”