Garry, Harry

Harry Garry

Birth

Harry Garry was born on June 21, 1909 in Newark, New Jersey to the late Charles Garry and Maria Garry, he moved to the Helderbergs as a young man when his family bought the farm in East Berne in the 1930's. His brothers were:

• George Edward Garry
• Francis Garry married Marjorie Esther Gallup

Occupation

Mr. Garry was active in Soil Conservation Programs. He was an original member of the Albany County Farm Bureau, serving as their president for 13 years, and also vice president of the NYS Farm Bureau from 1976 to 1978. In these capacities, Mr. Garry worked with governors and legislators for the good of state farming communities, including changes in the Federal Estate Taxes. He was one of the first farmers to grow certified Empire Birdsfoot Trefoil and he convinced Governor Dewey to push to have this legume planted on the sides of all state roads. Harry was well known as the ' Singing Farmer' and in his earlier days took part in local regular radio and television programs, sharing his homespun philosophy and musical gifts. He was a prolific author and was widely recognized around the state for his articles and commentary. In later years he ran a farm seed and twine business.

Marriage & Children

Harry Garry married Margery W. Smith on November 28, 1953. Their children were:

• Charles Garry and his wife, Anina LaCour DVM; of East Berne
• Franklyn B. Garry DVMand his wife, Ragan Adams DVM; and their son, Samuel Garry of Fort Collins, Colorado
• Johanna Halsey MM, MA, and her husband, Mark, Ph.D. and their sons, Justin and Trevor, of Red Hook, N.Y.
• Judge Elizabeth A. Garry and her wife, Betsy Cahill (Betsy von Mechow), their children, Bonnie and Jacob von Mechow, and Nathaniel Garry, all of South New Berlin, N.Y.;
• David Michael Garry - Died young

Death

Garry
Married Nov. 28, 1953
Harry
The Singing Farmer
June 21, 1909 - July 22, 2004
Margery W. SMith MD
Jan 23, 1926 - Aug 8, 2012
Woodlawn Cemetery

Harry Garry, 95, died peacefully at his home (at Hillcrest Farms), Thursday, July 22, 2004.

Obituary

GARRY, HARRY: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Times Union, The (Albany, NY) - Friday, July 23, 2004

Deceased Name: GARRY, HARRY

EAST BERNE - Harry Garry, 95, died peacefully at his home, Thursday, July 22, 2004. Born in Newark, New Jersey to the late Charles and Maria Garry, he moved to the Helderbergs as a young man when his family bought the farm in East Berne in the 1930's. Harry had many varied talents and interests and was always eager to learn more. Mr. Garry was active in Soil Conservation Programs. He was an original member of the Albany County Farm Bureau, serving as their president for 13 years, and also vice president of the NYS Farm Bureau from 1976 to 1978. In these capacities, Mr. Garry worked with governors and legislators for the good of state farming communities, including changes in the Federal Estate Taxes. He was one of the first farmers to grow certified Empire Birdsfoot Trefoil and he convinced Governor Dewey to push to have this legume planted on the sides of all state roads. Harry was well known as the ' Singing Farmer' and in his earlier days took part in local regular radio and television programs, sharing his homespun philosophy and musical gifts. He was a prolific author and was widely recognized around the state for his articles and commentary. In later years he ran a farm seed and twine business. Harry deeply loved his community and strove to preserve and nurture it's unique and beautiful qualities. He was chairman of numerous committees with the East Berne Businessmen's Association, was instrumental in the continuation of the East Berne Post Office including the establishment of a rural postal route and helped to charter the East Berne Vol. Fire Co. He was responsible for helping to straighten Route # 443 in East Berne and assisted in getting East Berne included in the Capital District telephone system. He was the beloved husband of Dr. Margery Smith.

Survivors also include his children; Charles Garry and his wife, Anina LaCour of East Berne, Franklyn Garry and his wife, Ragan Adams and their son, Samuel Garry of Fort Collins, Colorado, Johanna Halsey and her husband, Mark, and their sons, Justin and Trevor, of Red Hook, N.Y., Elizabeth Garry and her partner, Betsy von Mechow, their children, Bonnie and Jacob von Mechow, and Nathaniel Garry, all of South New Berlin, N.Y.; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a son, David Michael Garry and two brothers, George and Francis Garry. Relatives and friends may call on Sunday from 3-7 p.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home, 199 Main St., Altamont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Bernadette's Church in Berne. Interment will follow in Woodlawn Cemetery, Berne. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Helderberg Vol. Ambulance, PO Box 54, E. Berne, NY 12059 or the St. Peter's Hospital Foundation, 319 S. Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12208. Edition: THREE STAR Page: B6 Copyright, 2004, (c) Times Union. All Rights Reserved.

Harry Garry Mourned

By Melissa Hale-Spencer

EAST BERNE — Harry Garry tended his family as a husband and father; he tended his farm as a planter and dairyman; and he tended to his rural community, helping preserve the East Berne Post Office and helping to ensure such services as toll-free calls and a volunteer fire department. While he was firmly rooted in the Helderberg Hilltowns, his reach went far beyond. His thoughts on life — sometimes philosophical, sometimes practical — were printed in his "Down on the farm" column in The Enterprise, which were often reprinted in other publications.

His voice traveled over the airwaves when he performed as The Singing Farmer. And his work with the Farm Bureau on the county, state, and national level affected many farmers' lives.

Mr. Garry died last Thursday morning, July 22, 2004, in his home at Hillcrest Farms. He was 95. The week before his death, many family members and friends visited him there. (See editorial.) Sunday, during the calling hours at Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont, the line of mourners snaked through three rooms and out onto the porch. "It would be hard to find someone in the Hilltowns better known than Harry," said one mourner.

Another said of the outdoor line, "I think Harry planned this so we could look up and talk to God."

Kevin Crosier, a life-long East Berne resident, said he had known Harry Garry and his wife, Dr. Margery Smith, since he was a baby.

"Dr. Smith took care of me since I was born," he said, "right up until the time she retired." Mr. Crosier is now 45 and the town's supervisor.

Mr. Crosier said, when he finished his visits at the doctor's office, located in the Garrys' home, he'd sit and have a cup of coffee with Mr. Garry.

"Harry had a deep love of his family; that was utmost for him. The relationship I saw between Harry and Dr. Marge had a profound effect on my own marriage," said Mr. Crosier. "In today's society, where men are supposed to be so macho, Harry was always proud to show his love for her."

Mr. Crosier went on, "The second really important thing about Harry was his love of the land and the community, and^his deep commitment to preserve it for generations after him." Mr. Crosier concluded, "He's a great friend, and I'm going to miss him a lot."

"A-waltzing matilda with me"

Monday morning, a Mass of Resurrection wds celebrated for Mr. Garry^at his church, St. Bernadette's, in Berne. Father Paul Smith, delivering the homily, recalled Mr. Garrv a lector at the church. "It was anything but an ordinary experience when Harry shared God's word with us," he said as laughter rippled gently across the church.

"He did everything with gusto, with enthusiasm, with vitality, with appreciation," he went on, lauding Mr. Garry's "contagious kind of enthusiasm for life" and "his commitment to live life to the fullest as long as he possibly could."

Rev. James K. Hilton, a close friend, gave the eulogy. "I think of Harry as a manchild," said Rev. Hilton. He described Mr. Garry as someone who was always searching, always reaching out, always adding to his knowledge.

He likened him to his own son, who, as a little boy, said, "Dad, I just want to wonder." Rev. Hilton said that Mr. Garry "maintained a child-like faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and in God our Father, and he never let that be shaken." Rev. Hilton also talked of Mr. Garry's "great voice," but said, "He was far more than just a singer. Harry was an entertainer. Harry was a showman...much in the tradition of Al Jolson and Judy Garland."

Both of those performers, he said, like Mr. Garry, "knocked themselves out for the audience; they gave their fullest." "In that singing, I saw the heart of the man," said Rev. Hilton. "I saw it most in the love he had for this woman — his wife," he said, gesturing to Dr. Margery Smith, sitting in the front-row, before him. "Harry was human and he had his faults," Rev. Hilton went on. "He loved this woman, and his family. You were his whole life." Each of the Garry children spoke at the service.

Elizabeth Garry, the youngest child, with her young son by her side, read the Prayer of Saint Francis. "My Dad used to sing this prayer," she said. "I can hear him and the music in it."

"Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace," she said. "Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon... Where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy....For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." Charles Garry, the oldest child, told the assembled mourners that many had told him, "Hell, you're just like your father."

That could be interpreted to mean many different things, he said, but the interpretation he most often chose was, "It meant I'm extremely stubborn." He said he strove to live up to the compliment and concluded, "Being his son was not always a pleasure but it was always something to be proud of, and I miss him."

Bruce Jacobs described Mr. Garry as his "second father" and said, although he could make him angry, he was always a friend.

Johanna Halsey, the Garrys' elder daughter, with her son Justin standing tall beside her, said, "Dad is the one that I will always thank for helping me find my way to God."

Kahlil Gibran, a Syrian-born mystic poet who wrote of redemption through love.

"Life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one," she read, concluding, "For when the earth claims your limbs, only then will you begin to dance." "So*4gn£&. well, my Dad," she said "I will love you always."

Frank Garry, the younger son, spoke last and longest.

"My Dad was always with me and I think he always will be," he said. "He is a remarkable man; he did a lot of stuff," said Frank Garry, reciting a long list of worldly accomplishments — super salesman, community member, seed grower, discoverer of Empire Birdsfoot Trefoil, conservationist, lobbyist of the governor for this or that. "He always used to tell me, 'Franklyn, these are important things.' The thing he never told me was important — it epitomized him...That was, he would sing.

"My Dad would say, 'Margery, where's my guitar? There are people here. I need to entertain them.'"

Frank Garry said that, when he flew east last week to visit his dying father, they went over favorite old songs together. He then strapped on his father's guitar and sang a song that Mr. Garry had taught his children about a cowboy out on the trail.

"He'd sing to us thousands of times," he said. "He'd sing us to bed every night." At the close of the song, replicating his father, Franklyn Garry pointed to his mother and said, "That is the lady who makes me what I am,..Without her, I wouldn't be here." He went on, "Then he'd make you sing with him. I ain't Harry, but..." he said, launching into "Waltzing Matilda" — the irreverent Australian song that tells of a tramp who steals a sheep and, rather than let it go when confronted by troopers, jumps into the water, shouting, as he drowns, "You'll never take me alive!"

Softly, at first, at Frank Garry's urging, the congregation joined in the chorus, singing the mockromantic phrase for hitting the road with a sleeping roll slung over your back: "Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda. You'll come a-waltzing matilda with me..."

Verse by verse, each time the chorus came around again, the voices grew in strength and number.

During the last verse, a woman sprang to her feet and shouted, "Stand for Harry! One more time!" Franklyn Garry obliged. "And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong; you'll come a-waltzing matilda with me."

The entire congregation was on its feet, some clapping, others singing till the church was filled with joyous sound: "Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda. You'll come a-waltzing matilda with me..."

"Now I know this is unusual in church," concluded Frank Garry, "but I want a round of applause." The applause was thunderous. "He carried the sword"

"Harry Garry was dedicated first to his family and certainly to his community in a variety of areas," said Alan Zuk, who served as Berne's supervisor from 1986 to 2001.

"When you're in politics," he told The Enterprise last Friday, "if you accomplish anything that lasts five or 10 years, you think you've done something great. Harry did things that la'sted decades and decades.

"He got involved in things that needed to be done. He was a mover and shaker in the formation of the East Berne Fire Department." Mr. Zuk, a lifelong Berne resi - dent, also remembers how, when he was a youngster, in the late 1950's and early 1,960's, Mr. Garry took on Bell Telephone, which was then a national monopoly, and won.

"In the 518 service area, the Hilltowns were deemed to be a toll call from Albany," Mr. Zuk said. "Harry took up the cause to include the Hilltowns in the area where it would be free to call. It saved people hundreds of dollars." Mr. Garry helped keep a mercury recovery plant out of Westerlo by suggesting that it might contaminate the Albany water supply.

And he was also behind the effort to keep the East Berne Post Office open. Years later, when Harry's wife, Dr. Smith, retired from her medical practice, the town purchased a bench in her name for the East Berne Post Office. "They both so appreciated that; they saw the post office as a meeting place, a gathering place for the townsfolk," said Mr. Zuk. When Mr. Zuk was first elected Berne's supervisor, he recalls, "In the early years, I was very intimidated when Harry came to a board meeting."

But, over the years, he came to rely on Mr. Garry. Mr. Zuk gave as an example Berne's first attempt, in the 1980's, at revaluing property town-wide.

"I was afraid he wouldn't let us on his property" for needed measurements, recalled Mr. Zuk. "But Harry was okay. He said, 'I'll help you hold the tape.'" Then, said Mr. Zuk, the outside firm that was hired to do the revaluations "screwed up Harry Garry's parcel...It was like adding kerosene to the fire." Town hall meetings were packed for months on end as irate citizens objected to the revaluation; Harry Garry maintained that farmland should not be valued at building-lot prices. "When Harry spoke, he carried everybody's message," recalled Mr. Zuk. "When a room built for 20 was crammed with 75 people, I went to Harry first. He carried the sword. He spoke and the crowd felt satisfied their views were heard. We could get on with business. I got so I was happy to see Harry."

Eventually, the town dismissed the outside firm and trained its own people to do the revaluation; properties were assessed fairly. Through that controversy and others, Mr. Garry always maintained his composure and treated those with whom he disagreed courteously and generously.

"We could leave the meeting, whether we agreed or disagreed, and we were still Harry and Alan; we were still friends," said Mr. Zuk. "He didn't belittle....We got through it none the worse for wear. It was a character builder." Mr. Garry kept up his involvement in town affairs in recent years. He called The Enterprise in June from his hospital bed at St. Peter's in Albany to make sure the newspaper was covering a Berne Town Board resolution telling the governor and other state officials that New York is asking counties to shoulder too much of the cost of paying for Medicaid, thus driving up property taxes.

Mr. Garry had spurred the board to action in May. He wrote in his May 20 "Down on the farm" column: "It is hardly fair to place such a burden on property owners, of which there are many in rural towns, and particularly farmers, owning many acres of land for producing food consumers need."

Mr. Zuk said that, over the years, he was impressed with Mr. Garry's pluck and acumen in dealing with politicians. Mr. Zuk struggled for words that adequately described Mr. Garry's approach. "He had a way of doing business, of treating all public servants — town, county, state...TDold' isn't quite the right word. He was a statesman... "I couldn't get past the first metal detector, but he could get all the way to the top...If you plunked him down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he'd be right next to the President in 20 minutes, no matter who it was — Democrat or Republican, it wouldn't matter."

Voice for farmers

Mr. Garry was involved in agriculture for three-quarters of a century. A staunch supporter of rightto- farm laws and private-property rights, he often took on town and state officials, and occasionally federal officials as well. Mr. Zuk grew up on his father's dairy farm and remembers how much local farmers appreciated Mr. Garry. "He ate, drank, and slept agriculture," he said of Mr. Garry.

"All the farmers appreciated him. Harry spoke their message loudly and eloquently." Mr. Zuk went on, "It's difficult when you're a family farm to take time out of your 18-hour-aday schedule to attend meetings. Harry took causes on his own shoulders and met with legislators and the governor to advance farmers' causes across the state." Mr. Garry was an original member of the Albany County Farm Bureau and was its president for 13 years. He was also vice president of the New York State Farm Bureau from 1976 to 1978.

"He was a very, very bright man who paid attention to things," said Sheila Powers, the current president of the Albany County Farm Bureau. "He cared very much about agriculture." Mr. Garry was ohe of the first farmers to grow certified Empire Birdsfoot Trefoil and convinced Governor Thomas Dewey to push to have it planted on the sides of state roads.

"Birdsfoot trefoil had come over with the Palentines," said Ms.. Powers. "It can grow on rocky, craggy surfaces and was particularly valuable in the Hilltowns... It would allow you to grow alfalfa and other crops. Harry worked with the politicians and the Department of Ag and Markets to have it become a useful agricultural crop," she said.

One of Mr. Garry's most farreaching victories for farmers was in getting the law changed for federal estate taxes. Ms. Powers said, "He got the American Farm Federation to pass a resolution — that's very difficult to do on the national level....With the estate tax the way it was, those inheriting their family's farm often had to break it up and sell it in order to pay the inheritance tax. Getting that changed took a long, long time."

Dr. Smith called her husband "the guiding light for the changes in the federal estate tax law." She said it started with a local farmer who "had to dig into his savings" to pay the tax. "Harry was horrified," said Dr. Smith. "He found out about people who had to sell their land for development...The tax was based on the highest and best use, wiping out viable farms."

"He got Albany County to pass a resolution, and took it to other counties," she said. "He sold it to the State Farm Bureau. He and I then went to the national convention. The resolutions committee wasn't even going to look at it... "Then Harry got to the president and talked to him. The president changed his whole speech and made it the primary aim of the American Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau took it to Washington....

"We still have a copy of the federal register where [Congressman] Sam Stratton read a piece from Harry into the record. Sam was a very good friend of Harry...They met when Harry was singing on the Rural Radio Network and Sam was a newscaster."

Ms. Powers went on about some of Mr. Garry's other agricultural commitments. "He was very involved with the dairy part of farming," she said. "He was active in the co-ops. He is wellknown across the state, and I've met people from across the country who know him. For a long time, when I went to national meetings, they would say, "Harry must have sent you or you wouldn't be here.'" Ms. Powers laughed as she said this, and went on, "I learned a great deal from him....I learned to be not quite so unvarnished. He kind of put people off their guard. He taught me to have patience...

"He saw things that weren't right in the community. He was very ceremonial and dramatic in the way he went about fixing them. Even when he criticized what someone did or said, he was complimentary to them. He was a diplomat." Ms. Powers concluded, "Harry never lost his touch with people.

If you're going to be protective of agriculture,, you can literally work around the clock. Harry put in a lot of time. He was all over the place with it... "I feel badly to know he's gone. Farmers are saddened by his departure. They always knew he was out speaking up for them and they were grateful for it....We will certainly never forget him. We're grateful for him."

Family man

Harry Garry was born in Newark, N.J. on June 21, 1909, the son of the late Charles and Maria Garry. He moved to the Helderbergs as a young man when his family, in the 1930's, bought a farm in East Berne after his father, in a Depression-era lay-off, had lost -his job as a tool and dye maker.

Before that, Harry Garry had been a salesman. His wife said proudly that he earned a prize when, in the midst of the Great Depression, as a vacuum-cleaner salesman, he sold a vacuum every day of the month.

Even as a farmer, Mr. Garry kept up with sales, selling seed, fertilizer, bailing twine, and shrubs. He got to know shrubs so well, his wife said, that he designed landscaping, including that for the Westmere Elementary School and the original Guilderland High School. Mr. Garry loved to tell the story of courting his wife. A neighbor of his, Marie Swanson, had been a nurse in World War I and trained with a close-knit group of women; after the war was over, they agreed to hold a reunion every five years at one of their homes. When it was her turn to host the reunion in 1953, Ms. Swanson asked Mr. Garry to perform for the aging nurses as he had gained a reputation as The Singing Farmer. He agreed. A psychiatric nurse at Bellevue in New York City brought along her daughter, a physician. "She wanted to show off her doctor daughter," Mr. Garry said. Her name was Margery Smith, and, Mr. Garry said, as soon as he laid eyes on her, he knew she was the one for him.

That night, he looked directly at Dr. Smith as he sang, "Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger, you may see a stranger across a crowded room. And somehow you know, you know even then, that somewhere you'll see her again and again... "Then fly to her side and make her your own, or all through your life you may dream all alone. Once you have found her, never let her go; once you have found her never let her go." Mr. Garry had to move quickly because Dr. Smith had only 17 days left before her stint as chief resident of pediatrics at Albany Medical Center was over. Mr. Garry took her dancing at the old DeWitt Clinton Hotel in Albany. "We danced, we talked," said Mr. Garry. "And when I took her to her apartment, I said, Tou know, Marge, I'm going to marry you.' She laughed like hell." They were married before the year was out.

Their marriage lasted 50 years. This past November, as the couple celebrated their golden anniversary, ,Mr. Garry sang "Some Enchanted Evening" as he had the night he met Dr. Smith. He also told the celebrants that, not only was Dr. Smith his sweetheart, but she was loved by her patients and colleagues as well, and he led them in singing to Dr. Smith, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

As they renewed their vows at St. Bernadette's Church in Berne, Mr. Garry sang "Because" to his wife. "When he sang to her in church, he had every woman there bawling," a family friend, Shirley Morey, said at the time. "It was beautiful."

"If I wasn't strong-minded and strong-willed, I would have had a lousy life," Dr. Smith said last Friday. "Harry was a very strong-willed individual with a great ego of his own," she said.

"We were able to settle our differences without serious argument," she said. "We were able to get to the root of the problem each time and talk about it." She looked back at her marriage with clear eyes and said in her no-nonsense way: "He would have told you we never had an argument, which is bullshit." The truth, said Dr. Smith, was . "I had a system of re-routing it by getting rid of the blame thing....You have to look at what the problem is, not who is at fault."

She also said, "We made a definite promise: You never go to bed on an argument, because then it's set in concrete." Dr. Smith described her husband as a wonderful father. "He loved his kids," she said. "He would have had a dozen if I'd been willing."

The couple talked about having children before they were married, she said, and decided two boys and two girls would be ideal; that's what they ended up with.

"The man decides," said Dr. Smith, "because he has the Y chromosome." She got pregnant soon after they were married and said her husband proudly told his father his namesake was on the way

She recalled, "Harry went marching over to his family and said, *We're going to have Charlie John for you.' The whole community was waiting to laugh when we had a girl." But Charles John Garry was born that October.

The couple had been living in a six-by-28-foot trailer, with Dr. Smith doing the laundry outdoors oh a wringer washer. "It was fun," she said. With the new baby, the Garrys moved into an eight-by-42-foot trailer, placed where their house is today.

Just over a year later, their second child, Franklyn, named after her father, was born. It was nine months after the Altamont Firemen's Ball, said Dr. Smith. "The third year, we went to the Firemen's Ball again. This time, we produced Johanna," said Dr. Smith. "She came along Dec. 3, just a few days after our third wedding anniversary. At that point, we stopped going to the Firemen's Ball."

The next month, in January, Mr. Garry was in a serious tractor accident. "He smashed his right femur," said Dr. Smith. She found out later that, for the first two weeks he was in the hospital, the doctors were considering amputation. "All they told me was, 'Don't worry. By planting time, hell be back on the tractor.'"

Dr. Smith hired a man to help on the farm. Mr. Garry was in traction for two-and-a-half months, and then came home in a body cast. A friend built a contraption over his bed with pipes and two-by-fours so he could hoist himself up on a broom handle, suspended trapeze-like from ropes, allowing Dr. Smith to make the bed or change the bed - pan.

When Dr. Smith had to go out-, she would push Johanna's crib near Mr. Garry's bed. "He would reach through and give her her bottle and pet her," she said.

"When Harry was in the body cast, we rigged up a wheelbarrow, lined with pillows and blankets. The hired man would wheel him down planks...and up to the back of the pickup truck. We'd chain the wheelbarrow wheels in the truck so he couldn't roll out. I would drive the truck onto the different fields so he could give directions to the hired man." Mr. Garry traveled beyond his fields in his wheelbarrow.

"He was president of the Artificial Breeders Association," recalled his wife. "We wrapped him up in a sheet like a Roman toga and rolled him into the Foxenkill Grange Hall...Harry reclined at supper as a Roman senator would. He ran the entire meeting."

"For his birthday, on June 21, with the help of three people, he stood up for the first time," she said.

Dr. Smith went on, "This was when he combined trefoil. He asked the doctor if he could spend a few hours a day on the tractor. He told the doctor, 'I'm the only person who can run the combine. I'll get on once and then off.' The orthopedist approved a few hours. I kept my trap shut. Harry would spend six to eight hours a day on the combine."

The Garrys had a fourth child, David Michael, who contracted meningitis when he was three months old. He lived for three years, Dr. Smith said. She had a going medical practice; she and her husband's stepmother Johanna Garry, cared for David. "Mom Garry figured out how to feed him by massaging his neck...He was brain damaged; he couldn't swallow," she said. "He was deaf but not blind." Dr. Smith concluded, "David's death had a price, but I learned what I had to know to help somebody else."

She went on, "I knew he was dying and I got pregnant again. This time, it was Elizabeth, born in-May of 1962. She was a baby who was wanted very, very badly. She's never quite understood her father loved her more in a sense because of David. He thought she was the cat's meow." Dr. Smith concluded, "Harry loved all his children. He'd come up from the barn and wash up for a meal. He'd sit down and he'd have to have the baby on his knee."

Charles now runs the farm, Franklyn is a professor of veterinary science, Johanna is a mathematics professor, and Elizabeth is a lawyer.

Dr. Smith said on Sunday, "That was just a small piece of Harry I talked to you about. You'll never be able to record all of him. He was interested in everything and everybody."

Harry Garry is survived by his wife, Dr. Margery Smith; his children, Charles Garry and his wife, Anina LaCour, of East Berne, Franklyn Garry and his wife, Ragan Adams, and their son, Samuel Garry, of Fort Collins, Colo.; Johanna Halsey and her husband, Mark, and their sons, Justin and Trevor, of Red Hook, N.Y., Elizabeth Garry and her partner, Betsy von Mechow, and their children, Bonnie and Jacob von Mechow, and Nathaniel Garry, all of South New Berlin, N.Y.; and many nieces and nephews. His son, David Michael Garry, and two brothers, George and Francis Garry, died before him.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Helderberg Volunteer Ambulance, Post Office' Box 54, East Berne, NY 12059 or to the St. Peter's Hospital Foundation, 319 South Manning Blvd., Albany, N.Y. 12208.

Altamont Enterprise - July 29, 2004

Additional Media

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  David M. Garry
  1959 - 1961
  Woodlawn Cemetery

Sources

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