Farewell Journeyman Tracker Gary Burgess

Farewell Journeyman Tracker Gary Burgess

On May 24, 2019 we lost an inspirational Journeyman Tracker and friend, Gary Burgess.  Gary lived in McMinnville, Oregon.  He was married to Karen and has a son and granddaughter who live in California.  Gary served in the US Air Force and had a tour in Vietnam. He built a successful communications business in the California Bay Area and "retired" to the McMinnville area after he and his wife spent some time traveling across the U.S. in their motor home. 

Gary was very community oriented and an active member of the Yamhill County Search & Rescue Unit (where he had served as President and was a SAR trainer), the Yamhill CERT program (where he was a certified CERT Instructor), a Project Lifesaver participant, a HAM radio operator, and, of course, a strong advocate for the JHPTS-Visual Tracking program (where he was a consistently solid mentor and a founding member of Pacific Crest Trackers Association). 

Gary began tracking with JHPTS in 2007.  He earned his Journeyman certification in 2017.  Not only was Gary passionate about tracking, but he was a humble and very decent human being with a warm heart for everyone. We will miss him dearly, and his influence will carry through the future in every tracking class and mission in which his units participate.

“Farewell Gary , we enjoyed the time we had together and we became good friends.  You will be missed by many and I will miss our times of quiet conversations and sharing.”  

                                                                                    Master Tracker Joel Hardin

“Gary  was a sincere friend, compassionate human being, and dedicated tracker. We learned so much from Gary. He was a founding member of the Pacific Crest Tracking Association and we will strive to uphold his high standards for excellence in tracking training and mission response. We will miss him greatly.”                             

                                                                                    Apprentice Tracker Ron Glaus

“This is truly sad, I knew Gary since 2010 when we attended our 1st basic course together as novices in Newport.  Over the years Gary consistently proved incredibly generous with his time and expertise to his team, tracking friends and JHPTS family.  His absence will be greatly missed.   My heartfelt sorrow to his wife and family.”           

                                                                                    Journeyman Tracker Tony L’Orange