Gary D. Minnick

Gary D. Minnick, 90, of Hastings, Nebraska, passed away peacefully in his sleep at home on April 22, 2026. He was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1935, in Smith County, Kansas, and lived a life defined by hard work, quiet generosity, a sharp sense of humor, and an unshakeable devotion to his family.

Early Life & Education

Gary grew up in Smith County, Kansas, where he attended Pleasant Hill Elementary School before going on to graduate from Riverton High School in 1953. During his school years he was a natural athlete, playing on the Riverton High School baseball team that advanced to the state tournament, and suiting up for six-man football — the kind of rural Nebraska sport that demands every player earn his keep. He raised no small amount of hell with his brothers along the way.

While still in high school, Gary lived with his brother Gerald and his family south of Riverton. They awoke to the house on fire. Gary and brother Duane tossed their nieces and nephews out the window, helping save the family.

After high school, Gary attended Universal Trade School in Omaha during the years he and his family lived in Ralston, laying the groundwork for a lifelong dedication to the auto mechanics trade.

Marriage

Gary married his high school sweetheart, Donna Bush, at the Riverton Congregational Church on a blazing hot July day — a date that also happened to be Donna’s parents’ 30th wedding anniversary. In a moment perfectly suited to his personality, Gary celebrated the occasion by pushing his bride down the street in a wheelbarrow. It was the kind of story that followed him the rest of his life, and he would not have had it any other way.

A Life of Work

Gary brought the same earnest work ethic to every job he took on. He harvested wheat from Texas to North Dakota, worked with Warner Construction Company building roads in Julesburg, Colorado, and turned wrenches at the Ford Garage in Hastings, Nebraska.

His most lasting contribution came at Central Community College in Hastings. Gary joined the faculty just six months after the college opened its doors and spent the next 31 years teaching the practical knowledge the trade demands. He retired in 1998, leaving behind a legacy measured in the good work of the many hands he helped shape.

Adventures & Passions

Gary’s appetite for life extended well beyond the garage and the classroom. He traveled to Kenya to visit his daughter Tamera when she served in the Peace Corps, venturing out to the Masai Mara to watch elephants roam beneath a sweeping rainbow — a long way from Smith County, Kansas, and exactly the kind of trip a man should make at least once.

In later years, Gary found his people on the golf course and around the pitch table. Burdette Thomsen taught him to play golf, and from there he never looked back. His regular golfing companions — Tom Jenkins, Dave Foxhoven, Ron Block, Glenn Frink, and Gary Nelson — knew him as a fierce competitor and a reliable source of good-natured grief. Whether he was lining up a putt or slapping down a card, Gary played to win and enjoyed every minute of it.

Beginning in 2000, Gary and Donna made an annual tradition of spending three months each winter in Mission and McAllen, Texas. They played golf at courses up and down the Rio Grande Valley and made regular trips across the border into Mexico for more golf, good times, and the kind of margaritas that make a Nebraska winter feel very far away.

Family

Above all else, Gary loved his family. He and Donna raised four children who reflect, each in their own way, the values he lived by. He is survived by:

His children: Gregg Minnick; Teresa Crocker and her husband Danny Crocker; Brian Minnick and his wife Sandy Minnick; and Tamera Minnick and her husband Richard Alward.

His grandchildren: Jacob Crocker, Nathan Crocker, Ian Minnick, and Andrew Minnick and his wife Elena Reyes.

His nieces and nephews, who adored him and knew exactly what they were dealing with, would describe him with one word: ornery. They meant it as the highest possible praise.

Services

Graveside services will be held at Riverton Cemetery, Riverton, Nebraska, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 1pm. Visitation on Monday, April 27 at 1-7pm with family present from 5-7pm at Butler Volland Funeral Home in Hastings. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the family for future designation to Riverton Alumni Scholarship Fund.

Gary D. Minnick lived 90 years on his own terms — with a wheelbarrow, a golf club, a set of wrenches, and people he loved around him. That is more than most of us get, and he made it count.