Gary Bruce Haefner

HAMILTON - Gary Bruce Haefner was born in 1945 and passed away at the age of 80 on March 26, 2025. In his youth, Gary lived in California and was full of schoolboy hijinks. He helped pull off a senior prank by letting chickens loose during a school assembly, participated in drag races and other follies.

Two years after graduating from Glendora High School, Gary enlisted and served in the United States Army from 1965 until he was honorably discharged in 1971. While serving, he trained for both medic and special forces and became a sergeant in the Green Berets. He was sent to Vietnam where he worked in hospitals and in the field, treating everything from bullet wounds to cholera. At one point, he was a member of an A-team helping to train South Vietnamese soldiers. Gary saved the lives of fellow American soldiers as well as Vietnamese soldiers and villagers.

When Gary returned home, he moved to Idaho where he helped his family run the Northfork ranch which included a store, cafe and motel. It was during this time he reconnected with a woman named Judy. Gary and Judy married in 1973 and enjoyed 51 years of marriage. They moved to Montana in 1977 where they later built their forever home in the Bitterroot Valley.

His hobbies included hunting, fishing, working on cars, and he especially loved golfing. He had a curiosity about the world around him and read everything he could from stacks of manuals to his favorite magazine, National Geographic, which he read cover to cover. Described as an amazing storyteller, Gary loved to have visitors over to share his humorous and colorful stories with. He was the kind of man people wanted to keep in touch with. There were even friends from grade school and the Army who would consistently keep in contact. If Gary could be described in one word, it would be unforgettable.

Gary is survived by his wife Judith Haefner, brother Peter Haefner, sister Charlotte Haefner, daughter Christina Rodriguez, son-in-law Joseph Rodriguez and grandson Orion Rodriguez.

A celebration of life for Gary will be held on Saturday, June 28, 2025, from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at the Haefner residence.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.