Many years have passed since the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland and Gary is still acutely missed by those who knew and loved him.

Gary attended the Winthrop Elementary School, Melrose Junior High School and graduated Melrose High School in 1986. In high school, he lettered in soccer and tennis and enjoyed skiing. He also found and nurtured an artistic talent during this time which manifested itself into a love of photography. He was even fortunate enough to earn an award from the Boston Globe during his junior year for one of his still-life portraits.

After graduating high school, Gary enrolled at Syracuse University. He fostered and enjoyed numerous friendships on campus, especially with his fraternity brothers at Sigma Alpha Epsilon and with his co-students at the Newhouse School of Public Communications. He attended many of the basketball games and soaked in the energy that can only come from a Carrier Dome event.

Gary’s personality evolved and his self-confidence really took off during his college years. People around him could see it. It was palpable. As a young kid, Gary was actually shy and quiet. But at SU, he was developing a friendly, outgoing personality. As his self-confidence grew, he gained a love to interact with people and experience new things. He jumped at the opportunity to spend the fall semester of his junior year in London; a once in a lifetime chance to learn about another country’s culture, meet new people, earn college credit, and spread his wings a bit more. In addition to seeing the sites of London, he made as many side trips with his friends as his schedule allowed. He traveled to one of the Canary Islands for a jeep safari and was even able to attend a Boston College football game in Dublin, Ireland. Although he had a great semester with the other students who studied abroad that year, he was looking forward to getting home for Christmas, enjoying some of his mother’s home cooking, and eventually getting back to Syracuse for the spring semester. Expected and seemingly uneventful things that, incredibly, would not happen.

Gary’s presence was head-turning, and his smile was infectious. People knew when he entered a room. He was just one of those kids whose energy you wanted to be around. He touched and often influenced those who came to know him. Perhaps even more than the tangible memories he left behind; it is this ongoing influence he imparted onto others that represents Gary’s legacy more perfectly. A legacy that you now represent and will help carry forward as a recipient of his scholarship.