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Garry Child

Garry Child was released from his pain on August 6, 2018. This kind, considerate and hardworking man will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.

Garry Lee Child was born to Harry Ray Child and Mary Lee Child on July 23, 1958 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. There he loved fishing & photography with his father and caving & boating with his buddies. He met the love of his life, Anne McKown, in his senior year of high school and was married to her for 41 years. After graduating with High Honors from the University of Tennessee, they moved to Austin Texas where Garry was a software engineer for 27 years at IBM specializing mostly in communications software. At IBM, Garry was coinventor of 9 patents as he worked on the 5520 office system, OS/2 Communications Manager, Distributed Computing Environment (DCE), and security components for IBM’s Tivoli products.

In 1996, Garry and Anne took a year leave of absence from work and explored this beautiful country visiting many national and state parks, hiking hundreds of miles of trails, and enjoying nature. They were blessed to explore African savannahs, Peruvian mountains, and the Galapagos and Hawaiian Islands with Anne’s parents.

Back at home, they enjoyed volunteering with the Nature Conservancy at Barton Creek Preserve and Eckert James River Bat Cave. After retiring early, they petted kitties and sterilized surgery instruments for the Austin Humane Society’s Trap Neuter and Release program for feral cats. After moving to Dripping Springs, Garry earned the certification of Hays County Master Naturalist. He loved building trails and restoring native habitats at Wild Basin Preserve in Austin, Jacob’s Well Natural Area in Wimberley, and Charro Ranch Park in Dripping Springs. Garry was the Master Naturalists’ project lead at Charro. He led monthly workdays and advised Eagle Scout projects to build a bridge, picnic tables & benches, a kiosk, and a Chimney Swift tower. It was his wish that people enjoy and learn about nature thanks to his efforts.

Garry is preceded in death by his father Harry Ray Child. He is survived by his mother Mary Lee Child; wife Anne Child; sistersin-law Louise McKown, Elizabeth Perkins and husband Dexter, Jean Norton and husband Ron; nephews and niece George & Doug Perkins and Eric & Lindsey Norton; one grand- niece Cora Perkins; and cousins Billie & Bill Trigg, Sandra DeArmon, and Michael, Brenda, Breelyn & Brayden Adams.

A gathering of family and friends for remembrances of Garry will be Saturday August 25th at 1:00 pm at the Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, 301 Hays Country Acres Road, Dripping Springs, TX. Garry’s ashes will be scattered at simple gatherings Sunday August 26th at 10:00 am Wild Basin, 5:00 pm at Charro Ranch, and 6:00 pm at Jacob’s Well. (RSVP at: https://goo.gl/bHDcQ4)

Garry wished any donations/memorials be made to the National Park Foundation, www.nationalparks.org.

Dripping Springs Century-News

P.O. Box 732
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620

Phone: (512) 858-4163
Fax: (512) 847-9054