Gary Keown
Gary was born in Albany, New York, on Friday, December 13,1946, to parents Harry and Doris Keown. He had an older brother, Craig. They lived in Natick, Massachusetts, where Gary went to primary school. The family relocated to Levittown, Pennsylvania, where he went to high school. His last two years of schooling were at the Valley Forge Military Academy and he graduated in 1964.
Gary worked at the U.S. Steel Mill in Pennsylvania before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corp in 1966. He served 13 months in Vietnam and was honorably discharged in 1968. He returned to work in the steel mill and had two children, Christine and Jason.
In the mid-1970s Gary relocated to Vermont where his brother, Craig lived. It was there in 1979, at Sugarbush Ski Resort that Leanne Fuss and her best friend, Kerry Porter, who were travelling the world, met the Keown brothers.
Shortly after arriving in the Mad River Valley, they were trying to hitchhike to the local youth hostel. Gary was a passenger in the first truck to pass by. When the driver asked, “Shall I stop?” Referring to the brakes, Gary famously said, “Lock ‘em up!”
Gary followed Leanne to Australia in 1981 and they married on the Gold Coast in 1982. Craig and Kerry had been married the previous year. Gary worked as a concreter on many of the Gold Coast high rise buildings during the 1980s. This is where he had his baptism into Aussie and Kiwi culture!
Gary had many nicknames throughout his life from: Silver Tongue Keown, Cowboy, Yank, Redneck and Gazza.
Gary and Leanne built a log home in the state of Maine, famous for lobsters. Every summer, Gary threw a lobster party on the deck with a view of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. We have many happy memories of a good time that was had by all.
Gary was also an avid deer hunter. On one of his first Maine hunts, he took a monster buck that scored him a Maine Big Buck Award and entrance to that exclusive club.
There is a vast network of Gary’s friends and family. This includes all his fellow Marines that he served with in Vietnam, his classmates at Valley Forge Military Academy and all his many friends from the Mad River Valley in Vermont, the township of Harrison, Maine, and Yardley, Pennsylvania. He will also be missed by his many Aussie mates.
Semper Fi, Gary, Semper Fi.
