Gary Dean Ernst

Gary Dean Ernst, known to many as “Santa,” was born on July 23, 1945 at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma, WA. He was the first child born to Milo Weston and Pearl Mildred Ernst, later joined by his sisters Janis and Elaine. A Tacoma boy through and through, Gary lived off of 64th and South Oakes Street until he was 12 years old. During that time he attended Arlington Elementary and Gray Junior High. In 1957 he transferred to Stewart Junior High when his family moved into their new home near 38th and A Street.

This new home was only blocks away from Bethlehem Lutheran Church, where the Ernst family became lifelong members. Gary was confirmed here, ushered, sang in the choir, and was president of Bethlehem’s church council. Becoming an adult Gary brought his family to attend services, Bible school, plays, Cantatas, camps, coffee hours, Julebords, potlocks and more, which would help them to grow their own faith. This community was extremely important to him. The countless relationships he developed over the years all contributed to the great man he became. His parent’s legacy of commitment to their church body lived on through Gary’s constant desire to serve.

Just as his father Milo before him, Gary attended Lincoln High School and became an Abe. Gary enjoyed going to dances, attending sporting events and playing football, baseball and wrestling for his school. He was a good student when it came to math and science but always joked that English was “his” foreign language. He was known to always have a joke ready or wise crack in class. Coined as a “Big Tease,” he would throw bits of giant earth worm at the girls in Biology class when the teacher’s back was turned. Gary was certainly a hoot for his friends. He developed many lifelong friendships during his time at Lincoln High School and proudly graduated in 1963. Gary continued to passionately support his alma mater, attending many Lincoln sporting events decades later with those same friends he had made while a student there. Once an Abe, always an Abe!

Being the patriot that he was, Gary enlisted as Private or E-1 into the United States Army in 1964. He liked to say that one of the reasons he had joined the military was to travel the world, possibly connecting with family roots in Europe. He had stated as much while filling out his enlistment paperwork, so naturally Uncle Sam deployed him to… Korea. He made the best of his time though and had a blast working with the Hercules Missiles! These were not details he could share in his letters home because of the secrecy of the project. Don’t tell anyone, but there may be a picture floating around of Gary atop one of those missiles. After finishing his MOS in Korea, Gary was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii for the remainder of his time served. This wasn’t a bad way to end his military career. In 1967 he Honorably discharged as an E-5 and had multiple decorations, medals, badges and awards, including: the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Sharpshooter w/ (M-14 Rifle), Marksman w/ (Pistol), Basic Missilemans Badge, and First Class Missilemans Badge.

Returning home to Tacoma, Gary began working at the ASARCO smelter down on Ruston Way. During its time, this smelter boasted the largest smokestack in the world and had been one of the largest employers in Pierce County. Leaving the smelter after a pretty bad accident with a forklift, Gary had to recover from his injuries. He had never been one for idleness. From an early age he was friendly and outgoing. He would strike up conversations with complete strangers just for the fun of it. Combine this with his knack for hard work, instilled in him by his industrious parents and you have a young entrepreneur on your hands. Gary especially loved sales and with money difficult to come by, he got very creative. He would berry pick in the summer, deliver papers and flyers, sell doughnuts door to door, sell door swags created by his mother during the holiday season and travel to Puyallup to pick daffodils so he could sell them door to door. When Gary was 15 years old he joined a club called Junior League which encouraged youth to develop their skills in business and sales. In this club children were taught to build a product and then would sell it. Gary was clever and a natural businessman so he always excelled at these tasks. It’s no wonder that the various occupations he took on were a success.

After healing from his accident at the smelter, Gary would move on to West Coast Grocery, driving a forklift in the warehouse and eventually becoming a delivery truck driver. He thoroughly enjoyed his time there, especially the community he found through participating in the company sponsored baseball team, “Mr. Rags.” He went on to work for another distribution center called Associated Grocers but then left there to work for Fort Lewis’ Civil Service Department in transportation. Through working on base he was granted five weeks of vacation that year. Where some may have taken this time to go on vacation, in 1973 Gary chose to attend a five-week long course becoming an assistant manager for the fast food chain Herfy’s: home of the Hefty Burger. He would move on to become manager at the Puyallup location across from the fairgrounds and eventually became district manager until 1980 when 31 of the 43 Herfy’s locations were closed.

After an agonizing period of unemployment, Gary was hired in 1981 as an armored truck guard for Loomis Armored Car Services, providing secure armored transport, ATM services, cash processing and outsourced vault services for banks, financial institutions, as well as commercial and retail businesses. This was a dangerous occupation and he would often say, “stay alert, stay alive.” While working for Loomis, Gary would begin building fences with a fellow coworker for extra income. In the early 1990’s he would eventually go into business with this coworker but he later realized that it was in his best interest to begin his own company.

On July 16th of 1995, Perimeter Fence Inc. was born, with the slogan, “There’s no getting around us.” Gary’s dedication to the quality of his work, the relationships he effortlessly made on and off the jobsite and his “can do attitude” allowed him to run this well respected fencing company in the Puget Sound for nearly thirty years. One of the hardest workers you could meet, even at the age of 79, he could be found hanging a string line, plumbing a post, marking a board or stretching some wire for his next fence job. Gary found so much joy in the satisfaction of his customers and seeing a beautifully finished product. Over the past three decades he shared this joy with many friends and family through the chance of employment. Gary was very dedicated to his family’s growth and wellbeing and would never turn down a chance to teach them the value of hard work through post hole diggers and a rock bar. “Teach ’em young!”

Family first is the credo Gary lived by his entire life. In all of his endeavors, he never strayed from this. His love and passion for his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren was so

evident to everyone who knew him. He was a beloved and devoted father of four daughters and one son: Kristine Marie, Stacy Elizabeth, Dena Nichole, Heather LaRay and Tad Weston. Now reunited with Stacy Elizabeth, Gary can be the father to her that he only had a short opportunity to be. He is survived by eight grandchildren: Monica Shanece, Michael Lawernce, Alex Joel, Aubrey Allene, Autumn Grace, Jace Gannon, Weston Dean and Neva Pearl. He has also been survived by four great grandchildren: Kaylie’Ana Marie, Christian Michael, Benjamin James and Lauren Ilina. Gary viewed his family as an amazing gift and he invested everything into it. He was a man who calculated the costs and planned for the future, always searching for what would benefit the ones he loved. Gary was such an amazing provider. He taught these values and so many more to his children and anyone else who would be willing to have a chat. With such a desire to share his experiences and wisdom, five minutes could easily become an hour. It was always time well spent though. His legacy will continue well beyond the time he spent here on this earth.

On January 5th, 2025 Gary was peacefully called to Heaven at the age of 79. Jesus welcomed his beloved son and faithful servant into His kingdom. Gary lives on in eternity. This was possible because he believed that Jesus is the Son of God; he believed that Jesus died on the cross for His sins; he believed that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. He believed that Jesus prepared a place for him. For Gary, death has been defeated. Those who he has left behind can have peace; they can have hope; heck, they can even have joy! This does not have to be goodbye forever. We can see him again. If Gary were here today, he would implore you to accept what he knew to be true. Jesus is preparing a place for each of us. There’s so much room in the Kingdom of God. You only need to accept His invitation.

A service to honor him will be held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church (101 East 38th Street, Tacoma, WA 98418) on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM.