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Not surprisingly, I first met Gary Ziegler thanks to Lee Bonorden while covering the Lyle Area Cancer Auction.

Gary was an affable and welcoming soul you couldn’t help but to like as soon as you shook hands. He was that person every small town has that not only remembers every major event, but every minor event and the people involved.

If I’m to be honest, I never really spoke to Gary more a few times every year either at the LAC, during a chance encounters at the grocery store or roaming about Lyle, but it didn’t seem to matter because he always greeted you like you were neighbors who saw each other the day before.

That’s why the unfortunate news of Gary’s passing seems so poignant for me.

As a reporter, I’ve met a lot of people throughout my career, heard their stories and told and photographed those stories. Gary was at the top of the list of good ones.

One of the most caring individuals I’ve ever met, Gary was empathetic of others to a degree that seemed to make anything possible. There was no step he wasn’t ready to take in order to help somebody with a caring hand or affectionate smile — when that smile wasn’t impish of course.

It was conspiratorial for my sake when I kept forgetting his wife’s name over the years. I always felt terrible, but he kept that secret until I finally admitted to Cindy that I was being a horrible journalist. Naturally, she accepted it with a laugh.

Maybe it spoke to Gary’s self-styled “BS” nature. The man could BS with the best of them, which could make interviews delicate, especially when his brother-in-law Larry Ricke was involved. Dedicated interviews could very quickly devolve into said BS and fits of laughing.

Not that I minded, because you tended to get caught up in the moment. Gary’s personality was infectious and it was warm. You just felt good coming away from an interview or simple conversation … oops, I mean BSing … with Gary.

It’s the furthest from a lie to say that Gary was a giver. While I didn’t know much about his work outside the annual event, I witnessed how much he cared for the Lyle Area Cancer Auction and those bringing it together.

He certainly wasn’t the only one and I always suspected Gary felt better about staying in the wings and watching others get the credit than reaping the credit for himself. It was just part of his nature.

Throughout the years of covering the LAC, I’ve come to realize that the two-day event is a powerful symbol of what people can do when they come together. When people like Gary are willing to put in the long hours to help their fellow citizens and their community.

Without a doubt the LAC will be a little different this year. No, check that. A lot different.

Not for the worst of course, just different.

Gary was always one of the first people I would see when getting there on Friday night. An unofficial greeter to an event I’ve come to look forward to each year.

I honestly don’t know if the event will be more somber this time around or if it will be a celebration, though I think I know which way I’m leaning.

I feel Gary would want it to be a celebration and I think he would still want people to remember why they are there, to continue to raise money for the continued fight against cancer.

On a personal level, it will be a somber occasion because I will miss his greeting when I come in the door to the auction and I will miss shaking his hand. I will miss the laughter I heard when he wasn’t even in the room.

But I will also celebrate Gary’s memory and I will celebrate the fact that even though I didn’t know him as much as others did, I do get to say that I knew Gary Ziegler and that’s a blessing.

Sometimes in this profession to will become affected by someone and their story. Gary was one of those people

He will be missed.