Obituary
Gary Schuett passed away peacefully on March 2, 2024 with loved ones by his side near his home in Port Orange, FL, and is now reunited with his beloved wife, Carol. God must have been tired out from all the partying since Carol arrived in 2021, and needed someone to take it down a notch and kick back with and take in a few good Westerns. Gary was 83 years old.
Gary was born in Minneapolis, MN to his parents, George and Edith Schuett, and grew up generally causing trouble during his childhood with his younger brother, Lee, by his side. Playing “Cowboy & Bartender” (taking turns saddling up to a pretend bar serving each other tiny shots of their Grandpa’s homemade moonshine, and then, with a little liquid courage, fired their squirt guns on sleeping grandparent babysitters), taking all the bolts out of his grandparents’ kitchen table, painting his dad’s new car’s dashboard blue, and tossing kitty repeatedly out a second floor window to test whether cats always land on their feet, were but a few samples of his mischievous nature.
Gary met Carol on a camping trip in the summer of 1963. Despite being with his parents on the trip, Gary’s charm apparently swept her off her feet (or it may have just been Carol’s urge to get off the farm and out of her tiny hometown of good ol’ Rose Creek, MN). They dated for two months, got engaged, and then married on August 1, 1964 in Austin, MN. Their romance started HOT!!! It was 104 degrees on their wedding day with Carol in her beautiful traditional white wedding gown and Gary in his best wool suit!
Soon after meeting Carol, he joined the Army. He served honorably for six years in the Army National Guard of Minnesota and Army Reserve and rose to the rank of Sergeant in the Artillery Corps. and received two Marksman medals.
Gary and Carol welcomed Kimberly Ellen Schuett (Rylicki) into their lives in 1970 and Jason Gary Schuett in 1978. The family lived in and around Minneapolis until they moved to Florida (Orlando, then the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community in Port Orange) in 2001. The move coincided with Gary’s retirement. He had briefly worked during high school at the Texaco filling station where his dad was a mechanic, but then worked close to 40 years at Richard Manufacturing. A machinist (or tool and die engineer on better days), he spent his days fixing things at the shop.
Gary was a true handyman and Macgyver. While he could expertly help with plumbing or electrical, his favorite hobby (by far) was woodworking. Kimberly enjoyed his talents through all his gifted furniture and home renovation work over the years. Jason surely inherited some of his talents themselves, and is now an expert cabinet maker. Gary recorded and watched every episode of “This Old House” and “New Yankee Workshop” at least once and received numerous woodworking magazines. Carol used these magazines for her endless ideas for home improvements. Between her ideas and his skills, the projects were plentiful, the tools stuffed the garage, and Lowe’s and Home Depot dominated the credit card statements.
While woodworking was his favorite obsession, his secondary loves included:
- Steak – “Cremate it.”
- Storytelling (just like his mother Edith) – not hundreds of stories, but dozens of stories…hundreds of times…much to Carol’s chagrin.
- John Wayne and Westerns – he saw all of John’s movies…several times. His intense love for John was well known and made gift giving easy – John Wayne clocks, DVDs, and oh the coffee mugs. It also made guessing his passwords easy too!
- His grandchildren – highlights included seeing his grandkids do just about anything – performances, ball games, graduations, and visits from and even Facetime sessions with all of his grandkids. Christmas of 2023, he was ecstatic (in a Gary sort of way) to have all of his eleven grandchildren together for the first time. By the way, if none of your John Wayne referenced passwords worked for Gary’s accounts…try “Brandon98” or “BSCKWSGCCBC” for those that need more than 10 letters!
However, his greatest love by far was Carol and being with her: raising their kids; traveling with family extensively – especially with Jan (Carol’s sister) and Grady Stephens and their kids: Ginny (Adolfo), Chris, Blair, and Heather; taking the older grandkids on their “Just Turned Ten” trips; playing cards (especially ‘500’ and Cribbage); parties and dinners with the gang from “the old neighborhood” or with Florida friends (“the Socialites”); and numerous long visits to Chicago.
Gary never wanted to be the center of attention and was not only content to be in Carol’s shadow, but it’s where he preferred to be. We’re happy he can be reunited with his beloved bride.
Gary is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Rylicki (Derek) of Glenview, Illinois; and son, Jason Schuett (Sarah) of Deltona, Florida; eleven grandchildren: Brandon, Samantha, Corsten, and Kristina Rylicki; and Willow, Savanah, Grayson, Cooper, Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Caroline Schuett; sister-in-law Susan Schuett of Minneapolis, MN and sister-in-law Jan Stephens of Fort Myers, FL and many nieces, nephews and their children and extended family. He is preceded in death by his parents, George and Edith Schuett; his wife, Carol; his brother, Lee Schuett; and his brother-in-law Grady Stephens.
Gary’s family will hold a private service and celebration of life as well as disbursement of his and Carol’s ashes on Saturday, March 9 at the Spruce Creek Heights Cemetery in Port Orange, FL.
In lieu of flowers, Gary’s family requests donations to C127 (c127.org/donate) in his memory.
There was never a week where we didn’t see them either for lunch, dinner or had each other at our houses.
It took us by surprise when first Carol first and then Gary.
Goodbye for now, dear friends we do miss you so much and look forward to seeing you when our time is through. You meant the world to us.!!
Gary & his grandkids