Gary D. Anderson

Quit standin' around suckin' on a prune pit and get going.

About Gary

Born March 24, 1942 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota to Douglas and Edna (Harthan) Anderson, Gary was the oldest of five brothers.

He graduated with honors from Grand Rapids High School in 1960 where Gary was a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship examination and selected to speak at commencement. After high school graduation, he enrolled in Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and transferred to the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he got his BA degree in Education/English.

He married his first wife Darla Wirta in Minnesota in September 1962 and their only child Kari was born in Hawaiʻi in 1969. Gary and Darla divorced amicably in 1971 but remained life-long friends.

Gary enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1965 but was drafted and sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training (and was a potential candidate for Officer Candidate School). However, Gary contracted meningococcemia the last week of basic and was hospitalized in critical condition for several months. As a result of this experience, Gary was honorably discharged with disability benefits from the United States Army.

Looking for new opportunities, Gary worked in summer stock theater as a set and lighting designer at Lakes Region Playhouse in Laconia, New Hampshire in the summers of 1966 and 1967. This experience would lead to a love of theater and his future career.

He then enrolled at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa with the goal of earning a Master's Degree in Drama and Theatre. Gary became a founding partner in the Hawaiʻi Performing Arts Company (HPAC) — now Mānoa Valley Theatre (MVT) — in 1969. Gary also served as the Artistic Director for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) from 1969 to 1970.

In the next couple of years Gary became involved with the San Francisco troop of "Hair" as a stage manager. He traveled around the southern part of the United States with the company before returning to Hawaiʻi to finish his degree. However, he was waylaid by a job opening with "Paradise Found" at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome, and never looked back.

In 1976, Gary was invited to be a stage manager at the newly formed Alaska Repertory Theatre and took off for the flip side of Hawaiʻi. This job led to Production Manager and then the Director of Statewide Services, a job that had him flying all over Alaska arranging outreach tours.

Alaska had found a permanent place in his heart. Even after leaving to move back to Hawaiʻi in 1980, Gary would go back every year in the summer (usually with Joan and sometimes Kari) to hang out at "the Mouse Hole", until 2022 when his health made that too difficult.

Gary met Joan Gossett at a cast party at her apartment in 1972. They would eventually hook up in May of 1978 when Gary came down from Alaska to visit TTI in Hawaiʻi. He returned again in September and they fell in love. Joan moved to Alaska to join him in November of that year.

Gary and Joan were married on December 6, 1980 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The two of them enjoyed the beach life with lots of dogs and cats, no kids, living on the North Shore of Oʻahu for the next 33 years.

As Director of Production at the Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre (HOT) from the early '80s through the early '90s, Gary supervised an eclectic and creative team of artistic professionals. Together, they brought classic and modern productions to Hawaiʻi's opera community.

Gary got involved ("dragged in" as Joan would say) with the inaugural Haleʻiwa Arts Festival (HAF) summer event that took place July 18–19, 1998. Joan worked as the Event Coordinator and Gary would become the Executive Director, seeing HAF through its first 15 years.

Gary and Joan moved to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in 2014, where he "retired" to driving lawn mowers, wrangling pets, and overseeing two lovely vacation rental properties near Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Gary passed away from complications due to bladder cancer and renal failure on September 18, 2024 at the Yukio Okutsu Veterans State Home in Hilo, Hawaiʻi where he departed with military honors.

Gary is survived by his wife of 44 years Joan Gossett; daughter Kari (John) Embree and her mother Darla Anderson; brothers Robert (Fran), Kent (Shahar), Bruce, and Brian (Jo); and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

In lieu of flowers or sympathy gifts, we encourage you to donate to your favorite community arts/theater program or venue.

Photos

Memories

March 22, 2025

Gary was one of my mentors. He taught me how to be patient. I learned how to teach young people by watching him. He would tell you what to do. Then tell you why. Then tell you what happens when you do it wrong.
I remember one time. He wanted me to take inventory of director chairs we had. So I gave him a count. He then asked if I counted boxes or chairs. I said boxes. He gave me that look. He took my hand with a squeeze and walked me over to the warehouse and said open all the boxes and count the chairs.
That walk I’ll never forget.
I learned my lesson. Now I know. I find myself in his shoes teaching the next generation of scenic fabricators. I think of him when I have kids that don’t follow instructions. I say listen to my words. He saw something in me. I don’t know. All I know is he was a big influence on me. One of a kind.

Eddie C

March 19, 2025

He is not a Buddha yet but he will continue to work on it.

Patrick cahill

March 17, 2025

Gary was my big brother, 10 years older, and it seemed almost a generation ahead when he went off to do grownup stuff, like going to college and getting married and working in summer stock theater.
Some memories of Gary that go back as far as decades are a bit fuzzy, but a couple stand out as quite vivid, though perhaps not entirely accurate.

I spent the summer of 1968 with Gary and Darla in Honolulu. Two attempts at summer employment while there didn’t work out, so I became the house boy. My job description was shopping for groceries, making gin and tonics for the adults and other tasks as directed. Benefits included room, board, driving the Morris Mini Minor and weekend outings at the beach. I also got to join Darla at the Officers’ Club at Pearl Harbor to see Gary play Oscar in The Odd Couple.

My last visit with Gary was in Alaska in August of 2022. We spent two weeks cleaning and then lodging in the Mouse Hole. Gary had deferred some medical care to make that trip, which he had planned to make his last stay at the log cabin. So we spent our two weeks there making a few repairs, clearing out most of the excess stuff that Gary had accumulated there over the decades he was allowed to use the cabin, and hanging out with Gary’s friend, Jay Holmberg. Gary seemed to belong in that mostly wild setting. Maybe it provided an essential escape from too much civilization.

While we were in Alaska, Gary was winding down a part of his life. He talked a bit about his years of living and visiting there and how the 50 plus years since his near death experience were a bonus. That is how I will remember Gary.

Kent Anderson

March 16, 2025

Gary and I were high-school sweethearts; we married young, a year after high school, and had nine years together as husband and wife. Those nine years were filled with adventures that included Gary’s love of the theatre, a serious illness during his basic training that almost took his life, and the birth of our beautiful daughter, Kari. But I would like to tell you what a profound impact he had on my life.
The first time I saw Gary, we were teenagers at a dance. He was with another girl but we did notice one another. I thought he was so handsome and that he looked like Sal Mineo. The second time I saw him was at another dance and that’s when we actually met. He was the “town kid” and I was the “farmer’s daughter.” He was outgoing/confident; I was shy/not sure of myself. But he liked this farm girl, accepted me as an equal when I didn’t feel I was. He made me feel special and appreciated; he gave me confidence and strength and, to this day, I still feel he was the one who helped to make me proud of who I was ~ the blond, Finlander from the Trout Lake, who had a big heart and wanted to open it up but didn’t know how to do that. Today, at age 82, I am a confident, independent woman who has been able to open my heart to many.
Even though we divorced, Gary and I stayed in touch and remained friends all these past years and, to this day, Joan and I are friends and will remain as such.
Rest in peace, my forever friend, and thank you for everything you were to me.

Darla Anderson

March 7, 2025

While I was in high school I volunteered at The Rep as a curtain raiser, working on sets, costumes, ushering, and anything that needed to be done. I was fortunate to make a career in Tech Theatre, and I owe so much of it to Mr. Anderson, and so many other gracious people at the Rep. He always had time and patience to instruct and encourage. I was hired after he left, but his influence during those formative years are an important part of me. Thank you for sharing him with us, and I know he is in good company with others who shared their talents with us.

TS

March 6, 2025

To me Gary was a great boss. I would consider him the consumate theatre person.
He always had an innovative solution to any problem you encountered.
He always allowed his carpenters to proceed on their own with minimal oversight.
He was the best “Haleiwa Sunrise” cooker ever.
I will miss him and his unique
sense of humor.
E ‘Ike au i kāu, A hui Hou my friend

Michael Pierceall

March 6, 2025

Gary was not just another theatre guy from Minnesota, along with a handful of others who were part of the theatre's "Minnesota Mafia", myself included, Gary brought his immense talents, dark wit and crafted skill to become a major contributor to the performing arts scene in Hawaii. I met him in grad school at UH, where one day in the halls of Kennedy Theatre, Lee Stetson enlisted Gary and I to sign the docs to be founders of HPAC, now MVT. Dressed often in black, Gary could survey the room around him and rarely be short of a keenly honed word that would bring a wry smile to the people who knew the hidden meaning in his observations. Gary always had a fresh and very thoughtful take on nearly every subject he expounded. Our lives have been all the richer and more interesting for knowing him. Gary, see you at the after party. Lewis

Lewis Stout

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