Gary Donald Hase, Sr., age 82, passed away on February 23, 2018. He was born on October 4, 1935 in Redfield, South Dakota. Gary graduated from high school in Huron, South Dakota in 1953. He then pursued further studies at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and graduated in 1958 with a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics.
Gary married Mary Elizabeth Flick in 1957 and relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico after graduation in 1958. Newly married and graduated, Gary went to work at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico in 1958; first as a Mathematician and then as a Missile Scientist, which he often referred to as his “dream job” because of getting to work with rockets. While employed at the White Sands Missile Range, Gary also graduated from New Mexico State University with a Masters Degree in Mathematics. In 1962, he was recruited by Motorola in Arizona where he worked as a mathematician/engineer in the government electronics division for 40 years. During this time he pursued doctoral studies in Probability Theory at Arizona State University and furthered his love of space and “the final frontier” with Motorola by working on several projects for NASA including the Marnier, Viking, Voyager, and Apollo programs. In 1978, Gary was nominated as an associate member of the Motorola Science Advisory Board Association. He and Mary enjoyed the yearly conferences with SABA and exploring new destinations.
Gary and Mary were together for 58 years before Mary passed away in March 2016. Dad will always be remembered for his quick wit, his continued pursuit of knowledge, and his patience in helping his kids and grandkids with mathematical questions, especially story problems.
Gary is survived by his son, Gary Jr. and his wife, Terri of Flagstaff, Arizona; his daughters, Gina of Mesa, Arizona and Lisa of Montrose, Colorado; grandchildren Natalie, Jenna, Matthew, Kevin, and Sarah; and his great-grandchildren Jade and Theo. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; his parents, Donald and Florice (Waterfall) Hase, and his sister, Ann Emrick.
The family has designated Serenity Hospice and Palliative Care for memorial contributions. No services have been planned at this time. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
We felt honored to know Gary &Mary . They bought my home in Prescott , lived there for 10 yrs than allowed us to buy the home back as we needed to downsize. Our whole neighborhood came to know Gary & Mary. Blessings on them &you all their family.
I worked for Gary on my first program assignment at Motorola in late 1977. A great mentor. I will always remember Gary for his wisdom, leadership, and especially his sense of humor — Gary had a way of bringing humor to workplace situations that only engineers (and mathematicians) can really appreciate. I had the great privilege of working with Gary for many years after that first assignment and have many great memories over the years which followed.