Newcastle | Gary Doyle Rich, 77, passed away at his home in Newcastle on January 25, 2018.

Gary was born on February 26, 1940 in Bakersfield, CA the second son of Elmer and Pauline (Harrelson) Rich. In March of 1950, the family moved to Newcastle, WY.  Along the way, while they stopped to put chains on the tires, Gary got out and into the snow.  When he got back in he told his mother, "We are all going to freeze to death."

He attended school in Newcastle, graduating in 1957. Before he was even old enough to drive he worked at Craig Chevrolet cleaning cars and then went to work for Neil's Texaco in Newcastle. After high school he attended Casper College.

In May of 1962, Gary married Joann Lampert and they moved to California. To this union Monica and Monte were born.  The couple later divorced, but remained friends.

Gary worked as a mechanic at the Pontiac and Toyota dealerships and later started his own business.

They moved back to Newcastle in 1984, where Gary opened Rich's Automotive. He was well known for his talent of keeping cars running.  Gary worked until 2014 at which time he retired, but was still well known for his "mechanic advice" to everyone who knew him.  Dr. Chuck Franklin tells the story about being on a missionary trip in Venezuela when their bus quit on them.  They couldn't get it to run, but he had a satellite phone so he made a call to Gary and he told him what to do.  They fixed the bus and were on their way.

Thankful for having shared his life are his daughter, Monica (Terrie), Pueblo, CO; son, Monte (Rhonda) Castle Rock, CO; grandchildren, Tylure, Jared, and Ashley; brothers, Gomer (Ann), Douglas, WY, Terry (Barrett), and Dick (Bonnie), both of Newcastle; sisters, Marilyn, Carolyn (Jim), and Brenda (Al), all of Newcastle; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and an aunt, Ruby Rich.

Preceding him in death were his parents, Elmer and Pauline Rich; grandparents; brother, Ronnie; sister, Glenda; aunts, uncles, cousins, and a nephew.

Throughout his life, he was a devoted son, brother, dad, uncle, grandpa, papa, friend, and mechanic to all who knew him.

A celebration of his life will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at the Weston County Senior Services in Newcastle.