GARY WAYNE GROSS
July 3, 1938 - March 1, 2012
On March 1st, 2013, with his sister by his
side, Gary passed into eternal rest. Gary
is survived by his sister, Joy (Gordon)
French, his Nephew, Perry (Holly) French
of Winnipeg, Great Nieces, Caitlin and
Kira, and Great Nephew, Nicholas French.
Gary’s Niece, Kara Leckman (Shane Hubick)
of Calgary and Great Niece Taylor and
Great Nephew Matthew Leckman, and many
cousins . He also leaves many wonderful
friends. Gary was predeceased by his
Mother, Emma in 1986 and his Father, Paul
in 2005.
Gary was born in Winnipeg and grew up in
the North End of the City, with the
exception of 3 years on Garfield St.,
first on Boyd Ave. and later Inkster Blvd.
Gary began his musical education at age 4.
He was conversant with several keyboard
instruments including synthesizers and
pioneered in the area of computer
synthesis in Canada. At the age of 8 years
Gary won the Eatons’ Good Deed Talent
Contest. His experiences ranged from
performance to academia, conducting,
arranging and composition. Early in his
career he taught for the Saskatoon Piano
House, the Edmonton College of Music,
Harry Deeley’s Music Schools of Winnipeg
and the California College of Music. In
Manitoba, he founded and operated a chain
of seven rural stores and studios. During
his association with Jazz musician and
Educator Phil Nimmons of Toronto, Gary was
a clinical guest lecturer at York
University and at the inaugural Jazz
Program at the Banff School of Fine Arts.
Gary was a respected media musician and
had long been involved in radio,
television and associated media. Before
moving to Toronto and living there for 30
years, Gary was very involved in the Night
Club scene in Winnipeg. He played “Chans”
in the Moon Room and was part of the trio
called “The Nocturnes” which included Dave
Shaw and Del Wagner , “The Towers – Town
& Country” as “The Gary Gross
Quartette” including Reg Kelln, Bob
Erlendson & Harold Olson, “Club
Morocco” with musician Al Sprintz and
finally the Pan Am Lounge at the ”
International Inn” where he was part of a
duo with singer and drummer, Aubrey
Tadman. Gary moved to Toronto in 1968.
Some of the venues in Toronto were
“Julie’s” Nightclub and The Royal York
Hotel. Gary worked on many TV Specials and
Presentation Shows. Among his many TV
Series Shows he worked on for many years
were Front Page Challenge, This is the
Law, The Tommy Hunter Show , the
children’s show Friendly Giant and many
more. He recorded 13 Albums with Jackie
Rae’s “The Spitfire Band” (big band
sound). Gary was also a patented inventor
in the realm of audio encryption.
In the 70’s, sponsored by Rothman’s of
Canada, Gary and his entourage, singers,
dancers and musicians travelled to the
Middle East, Cyprus, Egypt and Germany to
entertain the Peacekeeping Troups.
Gary moved back to Winnipeg in 1997 and in
2004 accepted a position to entertain on
the maiden voyage of the Royal Caribbean
Ocean Liner “Mariner of the Seas” with
starting point being Turku, Finland. After
docking in Florida Gary had to end his
term of commitment due to the illness of
our Father. Besides music, Gary’s other
great passion was golf. He loved the game
and excelled at it and was proud to have
achieved a “hole in one” in his lifetime.
A big thank you to his caregivers,Dr.
Piotr Czaykowski and Denise at CancerCare,
Olga his Palliative Care Nurse, the staff
at Riverview and the Grace Hospice, all
the wonderful friends who came to see him
and who phoned him and his dear friends,
Vicki and Bob Reid of Toronto, who flew in
from their vacation home in Florida to
spend 2 days with Gary a week before his
passing.
A Celebration of Gary’s Life will take
place on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013, at
11:00 a.m. at The United Church in
Meadowood, 1111 Dakota St. with Rev.
Shelly Manley-Tannis officiating.
Reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, if friends so desire,
donations can be made to The Winnipeg
Humane Society, 45 Hurst Way, Winnipeg,
MB, R3T 0R3.
As
published in Winnipeg Free Press on
March 09, 2013
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