Gary Allen Mick, 83, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at his home in Loveland, CO from complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Gary was born on May 2, 1943 in Falls City, NE to Paul and Venice Mick. He was a 1961 graduate of Falls City Senior High. After high school, Gary met the love of his life, Dorothy Pierce. The couple were married in Lincoln, NE on July 2, 1966. In 1971, Gary earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Gary worked as a civil engineer for the US Forest Service for 17 years. While in Alamogordo, New Mexico, he designed and built a family home for himself, Dottie and their two children, John born in 1970 and Sallie, born in 1975.
In 1988 Gary left the Forest Service for Lockheed Martin to work on the Space Shuttle program. He helped design an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle program, located at the White Sands Missile Range. In 1995, after Lockheed lost the NASA contract, Gary and Dottie moved to Wisconsin where he worked as Director of Environmental Services for Milwaukee County.
Gary retired from Milwaukee County in 2007. They moved to Loveland, CO to be closer to their son John and his family. Gary and Dottie enjoyed travel in their retirement taking trips to Ireland, Spain, Russia and more. Motorcycles were a huge part of Gary’s life. Over the course of his life he rode, bought, sold and repaired too many motorcycles to count. He loved them!
Gary is survived by his wife, Dottie and their children, John (Jeanne) Mick of Fort Collins, CO; and Sallie (Matthew) Wild of Milwaukee, WI. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Paul and Ben Mick and Madeline Wild. And his sister Judith Nye of Florida.
He was proceeded in death by his parents, Paul in 1987 and Venice in 2011; and his sister Linda Mick-O’Hara in 2006.