Gary Harding

Gary Laverne Harding died peacefully in his RV home in Apache Junction, Arizona on April 21, 2019. Gary was a veteran and U.S. Army officer in the Vietnam war and served in a special intelligence and combat unit known as the Phoenix group. Under the pen name of G. LaVerne Crowell, he authored two books on his experiences in the Phoenix group in Vietnam. He also authored 2 fictional books on life in the Western frontier. He was a police officer and long haul truck driver following his military service and before he retired with his wife, Joyce, to Apache Junction, AZ. Gary was an avid computer and ham radio operator. Gary was born in Sterling, Colorado to Carl Laverne and Edith Lorraine (Rambow) Crowell on March 25, 1945. His parents divorced a few years later and he spent his early childhood in Haxtun, Colorado with his mother, his sister Cheryl, and his grandparents William and Ella Rambow. His mother then married Edward Harding who subsequently adopted Gary and Cheryl. Ed Harding was in the military and thus Gary moved to several locations during his youth. Gary graduated from high school in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He is survived by his son Dale Harding; a granddaughter Debbie (Harding) Bangle; a great grandson, Landon Harding; a brother Wayne Crowell; and several cousins, nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his wife Joyce ( Hovey), son Dennis Harding, mother Lorraine Harding, step father Ed Harding, birth father Carl Crowell, and sister Cheryl (Harding) Plummer.