Gary Allen Lindaman departed this earthly life on June 14, 2023, following a sudden illness. He was 75 years old.

He was born Gary Mantz Zimmerman on April 12, 1948, in Albert Lea, Minnesota to parents Robert Mantz Zimmerman and Elizabeth (Betty) Lorraine Friedrich. The Zimmermans divorced when Gary was an infant. Betty remarried when Gary was five years old and his stepfather, Alvin Lindaman, adopted him and his sister, raising them as his own. Gary's middle name was changed to Allen at the time of the adoption.

Gary was an Iowa farm boy. He grew up on a 160-acre farm near Wellsburg, Iowa, where he and his family attended East Friesland Presbyterian Church, a small country church not far from their home. He often regaled his friends and family with lively stories of his life on the farm.

Attending Wellsburg Public Schools, Gary graduated in 1966 from Wellsburg High School. He enrolled in Iowa State University following high school, graduating in 1974 with a degree in Landscape Architecture.

 
Gary was a Vietnam veteran. He served in the United State Army from 1968 to 1970 including a stint in Vietnam in Saigon and Red Beach near Da Nang and was honorably discharged following his service in Vietnam.

After his college graduation, Gary worked two years for Mits Kawamoto and Associates, a landscape design firm in Omaha, Nebraska. He moved to Tulsa in 1975 to take a job at the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District as a Landscape Architect/Urban Planner. During his 10 years with the Corps of Engineers, he designed recreation areas for Corps lakes in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and provided expertise for site planning, land use and master planning for a variety of projects as well as serving on the Tulsa Urban Study team. Gary was the mastermind of Plan 8A, a proposal for the Mingo Creek Interim Feasibility Study that uniquely utilized detention ponds to remedy the severe flooding issues. Gary was the first professional to propose the use of detention ponds in the Tulsa area. Plan 8A was selected for implementation over several others being considered and ultimately saved the City of Tulsa and Tulsa County millions of dollars.

Gary left the Corps in 1984 to devote full attention to his company, Lindaman and Associates, which he launched in 1979. He continued to serve his clients until his death. Using his Corps experience in storm water management, master drainage planning, and recreation planning, coupled with his extraordinary artistic and creative talents, attention to detail and passion for all things plants, he established himself as a versatile and talented landscape architect. His projects include hundreds of residences, commercial properties, churches, public parks, recreation areas, clubs, and sports complexes. He had a passion for his craft and a personal commitment to provide the best advice and creative designs for his clients. His goal was to work in partnership with his many clients to help them achieve their dream landscape designs.

Gary was especially proud of his role in the creation of Up with Trees. He and an associate shared an idea with Sid Patterson, then Tulsa Streets Commissioner, about how the city could increase the number of trees in the area by planting along highways and interchanges. Sid had the resources to put the pieces together to make that happen and the result was Up with Trees. Gary did the very first designs for the Up with Trees plantings across Tulsa before stepping back to focus on his growing business.

When the developers of The Gathering Place invited the public to an unveiling of plans for the park and solicited input about the park design, Gary attended and submitted some ideas. One of the ideas he submitted that was ultimately included in the final plans was to use the excavated dirt from the lake to build land bridges over Riverside Drive, thus connecting the two sides of the park and creating tunnels over Riverside Drive. This gave visitors a safer way to get from one side of the park to the other and added another interesting architectural feature.

A very talented athlete, Gary played basketball, football, and baseball in high school. A faithful fan of the Chicago Cubs as a boy, he aspired to play for the team someday. He was a walk-on player on the Iowa State baseball team, but his college career was cut short because of an injury. While in the Army, he played baseball for base teams at Fort Huachuca and Fort Ord before his deployment to Viet Nam. He played on club baseball teams in northeast Iowa, fast-pitch softball well into his mid-30s, and was a regular for years in a men's basketball group at the Whiteside Park Recreation facility in Tulsa. He helped coach his children's soccer and football teams. In recent years you could find him at The Health Zone enjoying a morning spin class or working out on the gym equipment and visiting with friends.

Gary had a beautiful singing voice. He competed in quartet singing events in high school, sang in the church choir, and was selected to sing with the Iowa State University Chorus. While in college, he was invited to join a touring gospel quartet, which he declined. He learned to play the guitar and could be heard singing in clubs around Tulsa in the late 70s including the Blue Coat Inn. He was a fan of Johnny Cash (Ring of Fire), John Prine, Zac Brown, and Bob Dylan.
In 1977, Gary met Mary Jane Loosley in Tulsa through mutual friends and they wed on March 31, 1979, at College Hill Presbyterian Church. Their family grew with the births of Heidi Ann Lindaman in 1980 and Eric Russell Lindaman in 1982. He adored his children completely.

Gary was a very friendly, compassionate, kind, playful, and funny man. He was a fierce competitor but would always shake your hand at the end of the game. He was renowned for handing out fun-sized Snicker bars everywhere he went. His grandchildren will remember him as "Papa" and for all the fun games they played in the yard, rides in his pick-up truck, and trips taken as a family to favorite spots like Red River, N.M., Disney World, Arizona, and Utah, and the Florida panhandle beaches. He and Mary took wonderful trips together crisscrossing America and Canada. He was fully devoted to his family and provided them with unfailing support, love, and laughter. He was totally smitten with his six grandchildren. They were the stars in his sky. A loving and faithful husband, a devoted father and grandfather, and a friend who would give you the shirt off his back (along with a Snicker), he will be deeply missed.

Gary is survived by his wife Mary Jane Lindaman, daughter Heidi Ewing, son Eric Lindaman, son-in-law Preston Ewing and daughter-in-law Meredith Lindaman, sister Gail Peterson and her husband, Chuck Peterson, and brother Bill Lindaman and his wife Kathy, along with his six grandchildren: Kyli Ewing, Caitlyn Ewing, Avaleigh Lindaman, Everett Lindaman, Auden Lindaman, and Emerson Lindaman. He also is survived by his aunt, Arlene Heetland, and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is predeceased by his parents Alvin and Betty Lindaman.

A Celebration of Life was held on Friday, June 30, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at All Souls Unitarian Church. Memorial donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Up with Trees or to the charity of your choice. More information about the service can be found at https://www.garykelleyafs.com/obits.