Gary Stuart Summers, 60, of Kansas City, Mo., died suddenly on Friday, July 1, deeply immersed in a design and build project — a labor of love for his extended family.
Gary was born in Kansas City, Mo., on July 24, 1950, to Barney Summers and the late Alberta Jean Solomon Summers. He attended Shawnee Mission East, played football and the trombone, attended Congregation Beth Shalom and was an Eagle Scout. Gary graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in mechanical engineering and studied business at Northeastern University.
He began his career with Fairbanks Morse Pumps in Kansas City. He then moved to the Boston area where he held Department of Defense top secret clearance as designer of fluid-handling systems for Warren Pump Co. At Damon Corporation in Boston, Gary contributed to pioneering work in biotech research and development of a computer controlled centrifuge. Gary was most happy in his engineering career as an early proponent of customer centric design.
After researching energy consumption and efficiency with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Gary found his way back to his beloved Kansas City and settled in Brookside where he lived for 25 years. He shifted his focus to another passion — joining the family business of 75 years. He relished the opportunity to work side by side with his grandfather, father and brothers at The Fish Market/MO Fish Company. Gary thrived on the retail customer relationship and the re- engineering of the food process and equipment design.
As Gary and his wife Debora began their family, he became consumed in the care and nurturing of his children — his most proud accomplishment. Emily (now of Chicago) and Evan (in college in Minnesota) became his focus and were nurtured, fed, coached, tutored and taught to laugh. As they grew older, he sat on the sidelines (mostly) of countless games of KCMO 3&2 baseball and basketball as well as swim meets with Emily from elementary school through college.
Gary worked tirelessly in community development and sustainability, advocating with community groups in projects such as the redevelopment of the Troost Corridor. Gary was appointed to a Citizen Task Force for public transit planning, and then consulted on the light rail and BRT projects with KCATA. Most recently, Gary volunteered in the KCMSD repurposing initiative. Gary spent countless hours on designing and building projects for his home and the homes of the extended family he so loved and cared for, where he very tactically applied affordable, sustainable ideas.
In addition to his wife and two children, Gary is survived by his loving father, Barney Summers, and his brothers, Jeffrey and David, all of Overland Park, and his sister, Cynthia Feldman of Dallas. Locally, he is also survived by his uncles, Charlie Summers of Kansas City and Mel Solomon of Brookside. He will always be “Uncle Gary” to nine nieces, seven nephews and one great niece. He will be dearly missed by his mother-in-law, Dolores Kliethermes of Kansas City and an extended family of brother and sisters-in-law who admired and loved him.
A memorial service honoring Gary was held on Tuesday, July 5, at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, followed by interment at Rose Hill Cemetery. The family suggests contributions to Bridging the Gap: http://www.bridgingthegap.org/index.php. To make a contribution in Gary’s name, please contact Kristin Riott at (816) 561-1061, ext. 106, or for more details.
Online condolences may be shared at www.louismemorialchapel.com.
Arr: The Louis Memorial Chapel, (816) 361-5211.