Gary W. Dusharm died December 28, 2025, after a 48-year battle with Crohn’s disease and a very short battle with cancer. A visitation for Gary was held from 1-3pm on Friday January 2, 2026 and a memorial service was held at 3:00pm on Saturday January 3, 2026, at Rude’s Funeral Home in Brookings, SD.
Gary was born on July 10, 1949, in Gouverneur, NY, the son of Clyde F. and Beatrice (McIntosh) Dusharm. His father was a Navy combat Veteran in World War II and an underground miner at St. Joe Minerals, Balmat, NY and his mother, a stay-at-home mother of four.
Growing up Gary spent his summers staying with his maternal grandparents on their century old farm near Balmat, NY. He and his siblings grew up in the small town of Fowler, NY, attending Fowler Elementary School. Gary started first grade in the newly built Fowler Elementary in 1955 and was able to visit the school with all his siblings on the last day of classes in June 2013 before it closed due to declining enrollment. After graduating from Gouverneur High School, Gary went to work for Stromberg-Carlson installing telephone offices across the country. Transferring to Brookings in December of 1968, he met Carol Langner and were married in March of 1969. For the next two years they moved 22 times returning to settle down in Brookings to start their family.
Gary then worked for Sokota Seeds from 1970 to 1972. In August 1972, Gary began his 40-year employment with Daktronics. The projects he was most proud of were in 1978-1979, Gary was part of the crew that received a contract to create and assemble scoreboards that were used for the 1980 Winter Olympics, in Lake Placid, NY. While there were many scoreboards shipped to Lake Placid, Gary was part of a team that built and later signed their initials inside the square scoreboard located overhead the ice rink, now known as the Herb Brooks Arena. The scoreboard was used to tally the score in the Miricle on Ice game between USA vs. Soviet Union hockey teams. The board was decommissioned and replaced on February 7, 2017, with pieces of the original board preserved and on display in museums and at Daktronics headquarters. Later, in the mid-80’s, Gary picked up a work order to create a Matside Wrestling scoreboard and was surprised to learn it was for his Alma Mater, Gouverneur High School which was in use for many years.
In the early years, Gary spent weekends riding his motorcycle all over South Dakota. In 1992, he inherited his father’s 1931 Model A Ford which he was most proud to call his own. He enjoyed traveling on every dirt or gravel road he could find, sometimes his journeys would find him hundreds of miles away from home in a single day. Gary loved to build things, he was a woodworker and was a weekend carpenter who designed and created years of improvements to their own home.
Gary was a member of the Ascension Lutheran Church. He was Assistant Scout Master for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Pack 4. He was a youth leader at First Lutheran Church for ten years. Later he volunteered repairing wheelchairs for the Hope Haven Wheelchair Ministries, Chairs of Hope in Volga, SD that were sent all over the world to those in need.
Gary is survived by his wife Carol; a daughter Rhonda (Jerry) VanOrman of Gouverneur, NY; sons Jeremy (Katie) Dusharm of Titusville, FL, and Daryl Dusharm of Brookings, SD; grandchildren Jessica Stiles, Ogdensburg, NY; Jennifer (Kevin Smith) Stiles, Macomb, NY; April (Cormick) Burns, Rochester, NY; Archer, and Ruhe Dusharm of Titusville, FL, Lily and Grace Dusharm of Brookings, SD; great grandchildren, Urijah Austin, Ogdensburg, NY, Treyton and Dylan Smith, Macomb, NY; sister Darlene (Gregg) Gonyeau; brother Rodney all of Gouverneur, NY; brother-in-law Ron (Linda) Langner; sister-in-law’s Sharon (Gordie) Bortnem, and Kathy (Mike) McClemans all of Brookings, and many nieces and nephews. Special friends Harry Thompson, and Phil Wagner of Brookings.
Gary is preceded in death by his parents; his in-laws Robert and Lorraine Langner, Brookings; and his brother Wayne Dusharm, Gouverneur, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donation can be made to the Brookings Volunteer Service Bank, who gave Gary many rides over the years to his many appointments or to a charity of one’s choice.