Dr. Gary R. Carlton

Gary was called to be with our Lord on June 2, 2020.

Services will be held at 10:30am Friday, August 6, 2021 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Sioux City. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. With respect to his outlook on life, we request you wear colorful clothing. The service will be live streamed at both of the following links:

https://holycrosssc.org/dr-gary-carlton-funeral

https://www.facebook.com/holycrossparishsc/live/

Gary was born August 29, 1946 in Sioux City; he was the son of Bernard and Virginia (Beacom) Carlton.  Gary spent his early years in Sioux City, Fargo North Dakota, and Omaha. He graduated from Cornell University, Nebraska School of Medicine and did a surgical residency in Lincoln, Nebraska. He then did a Pediatric Surgery Fellowship in Denver, Colorado.

In 1979, he joined the practice of Jacobs, Monnig, and Boyle which later became the surgeons of Midlands Clinic. He was an integral part of the creation of the Level 1 Trauma Center at Mercy Medical Center. He also was an early pioneer in the creation of the Child Protection Center. After retirement, he worked at the Mercy Wound Care Clinic. He loved all areas of his practice and the people he worked beside. If you knew him, you were probably included in one of his pranks! One of his favorite projects was Mission Honduras based at LeMars Gehlan. He spent many years doing medical missions to the Tolupan People there. He was part of the team that instituted Then Feed Just One, a mission that provides food to the local residents there.

He committed his life to helping others and was a true healer in every sense of the word. He was humble, patient, kind, tough, brave, compassionate, funny, and sarcastic. He found beauty in things that most wouldn’t and he appreciated the finer things in life; a good box of Franzia, a fireside chat with cigars, a trip to a hole in the wall restaurant, giving a unique gift, an empty lake with a fishing pole and a friend, followed by a shore lunch of walleye and potatoes.

Gary married Pam Petersen on June 26, 1976 in Sioux City.

Our thanks go out to the angels of mercy and physicians who cared for him at Mercy One, Madonna Rehab, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Our undying gratitude to our family and dear friends who have gotten our family through the last year. You are precious and valued beyond belief.

Gary is survived by his wife Pam of Sioux City; children: Chad (Valerie) of Lake Winnebago, Missouri; and Kristiana DeYoung (Jason) of Denver, Colorado; grandchildren: Allison, Hailey, and Avery; brothers: Mark (Melissa) of Garrison, NY; and Bruce (Linda) of Burlingame, CA. He has special aunts Karen Carlton of Omaha and Norma Thorpe of Wakefield, NE.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents.

Donations can be made to Mission Honduras LeMars (http://missionhonduraslemars.org/) or Bishop Heelan Schools (https://bishopheelan.org/)