Gary Neil Freitag, 62, of Hines, passed away May 20.

Gary was born Jan. 29, 1957, in Albany to Charles and Alphadine Freitag. Gary graduated high school in 1975 in Scio. He met his sweetheart, Deborah Kay Allen, while in school, and married her Sept. 3, 1976. After graduation, Gary went to work at a plywood mill in Albany. In the mid 80s, he went to work for a construction company that was building Tecton, an LVL mill in Hines. Gary stayed on at Tecton when they started up and moved his family to Hines. In 2007, the mill closed its doors. He then went to a truck driving and heavy equipment school. After school, he went to work for ACW Rental for a while, but found his calling delivering propane for Ed Staub & Sons.

Gary moved his family to Harney County for what he really loved, the outdoors. He spent every moment he could hunting, fishing, or spending time with one of his closest friends, Tom Davis. Gary loved spending time out at Tom’s ranch. It didn’t matter why he was out there, hunting or working, he loved every moment of being there. Shortly after moving to Hines, he joined Faith Baptist Church where he continued to attend. While at the church, he was involved with Awana. He loved spending his time helping the children of the church. He also started going on mission trips to Mexico and a few other countries. While on the trips, the families who he touched are countless. Mission trips are what God called him to, and he loved every moment of them.

Gary is survived by his wife, Deborah (Allen) Freitag of Hines; son, Gary Freitag, and his wife, Emily (Perryman) Freitag of Burns, and little Gary’s children, Hunter and Fawntana Freitag; daughter, Becca Wright (Freitag), and her husband, Brandon Wright,  and their three children, Matthew, Madison, and Marcus of Port Orchard Wash.; mother, Alphadine Freitag of Scio; brother, Ramond Freitag, and his wife, Jennie Freitag, also of Scio; sister, Loma Swick (Freitag), and husband, Craig Swick of Milwaukee; brother-in-law, Jerry Bilyeu, of Albany; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Gary was preceded in death by his father, Charles Freitag of Scio; and his sister, Martha Bilyeu (Freitag), of Albany.

Contributions in his name may be donated to Adventures in Life Ministries and/or to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and may be mailed to LaFollette’s Chapel, P.O. Box 488; Burns, Oregon 97720.