Gary Wetlaufer Funeral Talk

Gary's Work History: 

• Started at HP as a seed student in June of 1977 (I was 1 year old)
• Officially joined HP on 3/31/1979
• Over 36 years of service with HP/Agilent/Avago

Story from Gary’s work life

• Gary was a hard worker and a very talented and smart engineer
• We placed Gary in front of our toughest customers – he had very thick skin and he either knew how to handle them technically or he knew how to bluff with style!
• One of Gary’s old “Cisco War Stories” was standing up to a Senior Vice President, getting cursed at and pointed at, but not backing down, standing for what he knew was right and representing his team and co-workers with integrity.
• Gary loved to play golf. I’ve been playing golf with Gary since 2008, when we formed a team in the company golf league. 
• Golf can be FRUSTRATING!!
• Golf is hard
• Gary was NOT Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus
• Gary loved the game, he loved being outdoors and hitting the little round ball around
• My favorite symbol of Gary
• A package of golf balls with Cisco’s logo
• Found on his desk
• Represents much of what Gary has accomplished over the past 15 years, as he has consistently been a key player with our #1 customer Cisco.

At Gary’s funeral, I decided to focus more on Gary’s qualities, on the legacy that he left his family and each of us at work. Gary accomplished an incredible amount in his life – more than his family and close friends may ever know.  But he will be remembered and honored and cherished for WHO he was, not what he did.

Focus on qualities

• Loyalty
• Anyone that knows Gary, know that he had dogs and he loved his dogs. I love dogs as well – they are loyal and the love you on your worst days and your best days. 
• Gary was loyal – to his family, to his friends, to his team, to his peers, to his company, to his God. Gary exemplified loyalty and would weekly and often daily take it on the chin from his customers to protect his team or the company. There was NEVER a personal agenda for Gary – it was ALWAYS about those around him, those who loved him.
• Hard worker – Smart worker
• It is easy to take for granted the impact of a fellow employee on an organization. Now that Gary is gone, we do not take his impact for granted anymore. Gary left a HUGE footprint on our lab and our minds!
• I first started working closely with Gary back in 90nm eDRAM days (Avago folks will all remember Skimmer – and we will cringe).
• Skimmer was a super hard and challenging ASIC design with incredible risk and uncertainty. Gary had to support almost daily teleconferences with China, Singapore and Taiwan. I was very impressed with his work ethic and his focus on what was truly important. 
• Although he worked hard, he also worked smart. As mentioned, he loved golf and he loved his dogs. He always made time for both, but made sure to get his job done.
• Working hard, driving his team, pushing on the customer were top priorities for Gary. But so was his life, his dogs, his friends, his family. 
• We can all learn from Gary the importance of not only working hard, but working smart…
• Huge heart
• Wow – one of the biggest I know!
• Gary is one of those rare individuals that cared much more for those around him then he did for himself.
• Golf – he was happier when I had a great hit then we he had one himself
• Work – he never expected or asked for promotions, raises, and opportunities. But for his team, for those he cared for, he would sacrifice his career to make sure they had opportunities, raises, promotions and success.
• Dogs – When Gary lost a dog, everyone knew it. 
• Worldly possessions – they really meant nothing to Gary compared to his love and care for his friends and family. He would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. There are countless examples of that behavior at work.
• Empowering
• Every good manager has his or her own style. Gary’s style was always to empower his team. He made leaders and doers out of every person that ever worked for him. 
• He was willing to take the heat for failure, but he NEVER self-glorified in success. He always gave that praise to the team
• Davos/Lacrosse/Sugarbowl – easily the 3 toughest programs that Fort Collins has EVERY accomplished. Gary never took the credit for getting it done. He always passed that to his team, to the IP teams, to the tools team – to anyone but himself!
• Integrity
• Gary was Gary. He was NEVER anyone else and he never tried to be anyone else!
• I will never forget the day my father taught me and demonstrated to me what integrity is – what it means. I hold this attribute as one of the most important and difficult to achieve in live. 
• Gary had integrity – you could trust Gary and he gave you straight answers.

Testimony

• As we celebrate Gary’s life today, let’s focus on who he was, the legacy he left behind.
• Let us all try to be more loyal, to love more, to work harder and smarter, to empower and promote happiness all around us and to have undeniable integrity and honesty in all aspects of our life.
• My brothers and sisters (as this is what we call each other in this building – we are all children of our Heavenly Father) – Gary lived a great life and he left a great legacy that we should all learn from. 
• In closing, I also want you all to know that I believe in a loving Heavenly Father who has an eternal and specific plan for each of his children here on Earth. Gary’s passing was a shock and a HUGE loss. But I firmly believe that Gary’s passing was a part of the specific plan that Heavenly Father prepared for him. Gary’s death is NOT the end for Gary. 
• 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
• “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26)
• Through the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we will live again after death. Everyone will die – it is a part of our individual missions here on Earth – but we will live again – in and through Jesus Christ.
• Gary’s niece, Amy Scamman, stated online that:
• You are now with the rest of our family shinning down on us each and every day
• I believe that to be true – Gary is shining down on us and we need to remember his legacy, who HE was – his attributes of loyalty, hard work, love and integrity. 
• Elder Russell M. Nelson
• We can’t fully appreciate joyful reunions later without tearful separations now. The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life. …Our limited perspective would be enlarged if we could witness the reunion on the other side of the veil, when doors of death open to those returning home. Such was the vision of the psalmist who wrote, ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints’ (Psalms 116:15). [1]
• Gary has had that reunion – Gary is experiencing a joy that we can’t even understand as mortal beings!!
• We need to use Gary’s death as an opportunity to reflect on our own lives, on our faith in God and his eternal plan for each one of us. Let us all find greater happiness and life fuller lives as we remember the incredible legacy that Gary left for each one of us.