Gary Vincent Mazzei
March 29, 1948 ~ October 30, 2006
Resided in:
Asheville, NC
Asheville Butterfly Trail
Asheville ~ Gary Vincent Mazzei, of Asheville died on Monday, October 30, 2006 in a local hospital.
He was the son of Doris Elizabeth Hudman Mazzei of Boyd, TX and of the late Joseph Vincent Mazzei. Gary graduated from Texas A & M and did his post graduate work at the University of Texas. Everyone knew Gary as the “Rug Guy” at Smiley’s Flea Market. He was able to see his beloved Red Sox win the 2004 World Series.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife of 27 years, Linda Frear Mazzei; a daughter, Emily Elizabeth Mazzei and a son, Peter Gregory Mazzei all of Asheville; two brothers, Steve and Brian Mazzei both of Boyd, TX.
A memorial service will be held 4:30 P.M. Friday in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian with his brother, Steve Mazzei officiating.
The family will receive friends Friday from 3:30 – 4:30 P.M. at the funeral home prior to the service.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Animal Haven of Asheville, 65 Lower Grassy Branch Road, Asheville NC 28805 or to the International Wolf Center, 12615 County Road 9, suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55441.
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Linda, Peter, and Emily,
I know how deep your loss is, and I just had to write again. I am so sorry.
I’ve also been feeling sorry for myself. I simply cannot express how much this hurts. Gary meant so much to me. It’s so hard to believe that forty years have passed since we first met in that gloomy dormitory in college that we named ‘Bleak House.’ We had that name on the wall in our dorm room. The tile on the floors was worn almost down to the concrete, and the bunk beds were really bad. Gary had the bottom bunk and I had the top. But it was all that either of us could afford.
The last semester I was there, we lived in an old house in Bryan, along with James Smith and Sam Smith. The house was so cold. One morning when we got the heater to work, Gary jumped out of bed and ran over to the heater, saying ‘Heat, heat, Harvey Heat!’
We had so many inside jokes over the years that don’t mean anything to anyone else. One of them will suddenly pop into my head every day or so. There was the altercation with an idiot working at Sbissa Dining Hall who wouldn’t let Gary get a second glass of milk–the glasses were quite small. The kid got a milk bath. Gary got into a little trouble, of course. We always referred to Oct. 28, 1968 as National Milk Day.
This is so hard. Gary will always have a very special place in my heart.
John Allison
Nov. 19, 2006
Mrs.Mazzei,
I am extremely sorry for your loss. I will be praying for you and your family. I love you very much. I will see you friday.
Love,
Sarah
Mrs Mazzei,
I am sorry for you loss. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Becca
I am sorry for your loss. I will be thinking about you.
Christina McIntosh
Gary was an honest, trustworthy and wonderful man. He was always a very faithful friend to our family. He will be missed!
My thoughts and prayers are with your family during this difficult time.
Margo Allison
Words fail me. Gary Mazzei was like a brother to me. We met as college roommates in September 1966, and remained roommates throughout college. Even though we had not had been able to see one another very often during the past several years, we corresponded by e-mail almost every day.
Gary was a highly intelligent, kind, and sensitive man. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of politics, sports, and music.
Fortunately, a couple of years ago on the phone, these two old men were able to say ‘I love you’ to each other.
I will miss him so much.
John Allison
There are so many things I wish I could say to you. But the words fail to come to me. To me you will always be my daddy, the dad who would always be there to support me. Thank you dad for introducing me to the best things in life the REDSOX,CELTICS,COWBOYS,BEER,THE LOVE OF A KITTY KAT,SOCCER,GREAT MUSIC, AND A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER THE LOVE OF A FATHER. while your up there in heaven i want you to say hello to Brandon, Papa Joe, Emmitt, Taj, Simpson , Vanessa, Hillary, Gracey, Wiley, and Campbell. I know this sounds like Iam rambling but in my situation these are the things that are coming into my head at the moment.
Daddy I will always love you.
GO RED SOX
My deepest sympathy to you Linda,Peter and Emily you are in my prayers.God bless you.
John Brien.
Linda, Peter, and Emily, I truly am sorry to hear about the passing of Gary. I have known Gary for nearly 35 years, he was a TRUE friend. He always had an opinion and if you did not want to know it, don’t ask. He was one of the most honest friends I have ever met. We stayed in touch enough to confirm to each other that we were always on each others mind. He will be deeply missed.
Mrs. Mazzei, Peter, and Emily
All three of you will be in my thoughts and prayers during this tough time as you have been since I found out about this tragedy. If any of you ever need anything, I will always be here to help
Jeremy Greene
Mrs. Mazzei, I am very sorry for your loss. We miss you and hope you will be able to come back to us soon.
Daniel
Gary and his family will always be in our hearts and prayers.
Love,
Dan & Barbara Statuto
We were saddened to hear of Gary’s passing. We have gotten to know him at the flea market and call him friend. We’ll miss his sharp wit and sense of humor.
It took me longer to sign this than I had planned. I love my dad, I always have I always will. I have written phrases that remind me of dad, or things he said.
***He gave me wings to fly and a mind to think****
‘When I die don’t bury me in a box in a cememtary. But out in a garden would be much better, where I could be pushin’ up home grown tomatoes.’ -Guy Clark
‘Hope I die before I get old.’ -The Who ***Dad’s motto***
‘Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.’ -Groucho Marx
‘Our world is a world I no loger recognise. And a world I do not very much like.’ -John Chancellor
‘Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy.’ -Benjamin Franklin
‘Of all god’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.’ -Mark Twain
************27 OCTOBER 2004************
Dad’s life: good wine, good friends, good cats.
We have control over the House AND the Senate, Dad!!!!!
There are so many things I wish I could write here, but there’s not enough room, but that doesn’t matter, the thought of love does.
‘MY LIFE BEGAN WHEN I MET YOU . . . AND ENDED WHEN YOU WENT AWAY . . . I MISS YOU DAD.’