Gary L. Sisk was born on a summer’s day, June 28, 1952, in Elkhorn, to Frederick ‘Gene’ E. and Shirley J. (Beardsley) Sisk. He went to be with his Lord and Savior on March 12, 2021, at Mercy Hospital in Janesville.
Or, as Gary would say, in his book “The Misadventures of Buck Tanglewood” – “he was born under a covered wagon near the banks of Tanglewood Creek while traveling to the west with my family.”
So began the adventure of a lifetime.
Along the way, Gary married his wife Michele ‘Shelli’ McKay on June 2, 1977, whose mercy toward him continued to make life an amazing journey. Gary and Shelli have been the pastors of Harvestpoint Church in Delavan since 1989. Both are graduates of Rhema Bible Training College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Gary also earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling/Family Systems Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Gary believed that adults are just older kids. He didn’t keep his crayons inside all of the lines (if you know what that means.) When Gary colored pictures with his grandkids, the house rule was “all individuals, including Gary” must remove all crayons from all nostrils after playing ‘walrus’ and especially before answering the doorbell.
To say that Gary’s sense of humor was dry was like “if towels could tell jokes.” Of course, his observations had to be said with a straight face showing minimal expression, but with a twinkle in his eye.
Gary’s interests and talents had no bounds. He was a builder, a writer, a musician, preacher, an artist, mechanic, inventor, veteran (Army), husband, father, son, sibling, uncle, friend and most importantly papa to his grandchildren. He played trumpet, had the leads in more than one high school musical, was class president (Delavan-Darien class of 1970) and was a hunter.
This cherished tradition to go hunting with his father, brother and friends, and later his son, led to more than one adventure.
As brother Larry writes:
We deer hunted in my family when I was growing up. It was a rite of passage of sorts when you finally reached the age of 12 and you were allowed to go with the men “up north.” One car that was used to drive “up north” was a 1960 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. That thing must have been 18 feet long. My brother Gary had a tendency to wander off from the “stand” my dad would put him on. He got bored easily, I guess, and would leave where my dad put him to go try out a different area or just to “still hunt” – taking a few steps and stopping, taking a few steps and stopping – you get the drift. When we (Gary) would get lost there was a signal of three blasts of the horn from the old caddy. This would continue until the missing party would come out of the woods. My dad would never give up until we were all safely returned to the car.
Gary, we tried to keep you here with us, but you must have been hearing those horns honking all the way from heaven.
You once wrote about your friend and mentor Johnnie Visgar: “I know you slipped off to heaven ahead of me. I’ll catch up with you later. I will miss the nearly four decades of walking the trails of ‘Tanglewood’ with you scouting for the biggest buck. Say “Hi” to my dad”.
Well, Gary, you walked into heaven with all the “horns honking” and were greeted by dad, Johnny, Carrie and all the saints that went before you. You are safe, but will be forever missed and loved here on earth.
Gary is survived by his wife, Michele ‘Shelli’; son, Levi (Melissa) Sisk; daughter, Emily (Alex) Valadez; son-in-law, Joel Schuknecht; mother, Shirley J Sisk; brother, Larry (Cheryl) Sisk; sisters, Sharyn (Dave) Sheen and Sandy (Bill) Rima. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Zak, Cheyenne, Violet, Xander, Zoe, Devontae, Alex and Carrie.
Gary was preceded in death by his father, Frederick ‘Gene’ Sisk; and his beloved daughter, Carrie Anne Schuknecht.
Visitation was held Sunday at Harvestpoint Church in Delavan. Monroe Funeral Home in Delavan is assisting the family.
