Cossack Chaplain Gary
Gary didn’t grow up going to church…He never read the Bible… He didn’t even know the New Testament and the Bible was the same thing… He has no memory of going to church before he was an adult. Believe it or not he had no idea who Jesus Christ was before he was 38yrs old. He did grow up in a nice home and a safe environment, had a lot of friends and did well in school. His parents loved him and gave him everything he needed, but they weren’t very religious…When someone used the words JESUS CHRIST…you had better DUCK, God was not being given any glory.
Gary has been in the Lamar Co Cossacks serving as VP. Before that he was a member of the CMA for two years, where he was never really happy because he didn’t feel like he belonged there. He has now found a home in the Cossacks MC Chaplain Chapter as VP, and extremely excited about what the future holds.
We still make mistakes everyday and Gary is no different…HE IS A SINNER…but does love the lord and believes in Jesus Christ and try’s to live by his teachings.
Before Gary came to Christ he was in business with his father from the age of 18. See, although he had a nice suburban life, his dad had ties to... organized crime. So that’s what he did…after high school he didn’t go off to college…he went straight to work for his father in the beer business…which was just a cover to run their own personal business. Well everything seemed to be going great for awhile, booking football, underground casinos, strip clubs, girls, money, drugs, envy from his friends. Until he beat a guy up with a baseball bat for a few dollars, this eventually put him in jail for awhile. A deal was made with the Judge of the case and he joined the army and served seven years. He pulled border patrol in West Germany, participated in the Panama invasion, Desert Storm with the 5th Special Forces group. While in the military he went to college at Kansas State University and received his degree in the medical field. After returning home he went back into business with his father and continued to get into trouble with law until his addiction to cocaine brought everything to an end and he tried to take his own life in September 2002.
As Gary recovered he moved to a new city, made new friends and got a good job. Gary started to notice God working in his life and saw how he was forgiven for the things he had done. He started attending Church, started learning about Jesus and his teachings to the point he was saved and baptized. He now attends church regularly; bible studies, involved with many different community charities, and has organized and helped start two Biker Church’s in Northeast Texas. Gary has been drug free for 91/2 years now, and gives all the credit to the Lord.
Gary is now a Physicians Surgical Assistant in open heart surgery and is semi retired due to post traumatic stress disorder. He has two grown daughters, one of which is in college and the other who is following his footsteps down the wrong path. He also has an 11yr son which he coaches all of his teams. Has also been blessed with two Granddaughters which he and his wife Leeigh of 21 years are raising.
Cossacks and their families can reach Chaplain Gary at 903-517-7497 (cell phone/text from here), email or send a Prayer Request to all of the Cossack Chaplains.
