Gary Ackley

November 28th, 1939 – February 3rd, 2023

Gary Ackley, 83, of Boise, Idaho passed away peacefully at home in his favorite chair. A 5th-generation Boise native and retired Boise City Fireman, Gary grew up on his family farm on the back nine of the Hillcrest Golf Course where he loved hunting, fishing, working on cars, guns, and being a generally unruly kid. When he was 12, he and two of his buddies got on their bikes, armed with a package of bologna, a loaf of bread, a fishing pole, a tire patch kit, an old .22 rifle, and a box of bullets. They rode for days on backroads into Central Idaho, ending up in the Council area, camping wherever they happened to be when it started getting dark. They fished and hunted various varmints for food for over a week.

In 1957 Gary joined the United States Navy and served on the refueling ship U.S.S. Hassayampa which was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was honorably discharged in 1959. In 1987 he met his forever wife, Donna, to whom he was happily married until death.

Gary enjoyed working on the family race cars with his brothers and entertaining family and friends with dinners, barbeques, and long sightseeing drives.

Gary is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and is remembered for his smile, hearty laugh, stubbornness, painful honesty, and genuine personality. All of which is why we loved him and he will never be forgotten.

A committal service will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.