Gary Lamar Berneking was born on February 26, 1950 in Huntington Park, California and passed away on March 22, 2020 in San Clemente, California.
Gary is survived by his wife of 25 years, Lani and by his four children Jeffrey (39), Stephen (35) wife Chelsea, Lauren (30) and Lindsay (19); and two grandsons Nathan and Nicholas.
Gary graduated from Southgate High School in 1968 and was a cadet in the ROTC based at the University of Southern California.He earned his undergraduate degree from Northrop Institute of Technology and entered the United States Air Force as an Officer.Gary flew missions as a pilot and a navigator and was honorably discharged in 1976 with the rank Captain.Gary went on to earn a Master of Science (MS) from the University of Southern California.Gary continued serving his country as a Program Manager for various defense contractors including serving as the Program Manager for the B-2 Mission Planning System.Gary joined Symbol Technologies as a Program Manager on retail systems where he traveled extensively in Europe and then took a position with Rockwell Collins to support onboard systems and officially retired in 2019.
Gary loved to travel for work and felt fortunate to support mission planning projects near Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Nebraska, Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio and Hanscom AFB in Bedford, Massachusetts.His favorite city in the United States was Washington DC where he attended formal events associated with his defense contractor responsibilities for the Air Force.Gary's favorite city outside of the United States was London where he served on projects for the Royal British Navy and worked on projects for Symbol Technologies that required him to commute every other week from California.
Gary loved traveling with his family with the most memorable trips to the Big Island of Hawaii, Keystone Colorado, Colorado Springs, Lanai and Walt Disney World.Gary's memorable trips with Lani were to London, Paris, Brussels, Vancouver and the Big Island of Hawaii where they were married.
Gary was a reluctant Disney annual passholder, but enjoyed the dining and thrill rides. The family would have breakfast at the Carnation Café with greetings from Oscar, lunch at the Blue Bayou for Monte Cristo Sandwiches and dinner at Wine Country Trattoria. His favorite ride was California Screamin' and he would use the single rider line to ride back to back; his record was six times in a row.For several years, Gary was also a reluctant passholder to Legoland, San Diego Wild Animal Park, and Universal Studios.
Gary loved to play golf and ski.His favorite golf courses were Mauna Kea, Hapuna and Mauna Lani on the Big Island of Hawaii.His favorite ski destination was Keystone in Colorado.
In most recent years as he wound down his career, Gary enjoyed spending time with friends and family closer to home.He enjoyed driving his Red Mustang GT convertible on PCH, dining at the wonderful restaurants in South Orange County and watching movies and sitcoms with Lindsay.Gary and Lindsay especially enjoyed The Pink Panther, Star Wars, Star Trek and James Bond movies, for sitcoms they enjoyed The Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Last Man Standing and Two and a Half Men.
Most of all, Gary loved spending time with family.He was happiest when the entire family visited him at home.He was so proud of Jeffrey, Stephen, Lauren and Lindsay and would share stories of their accomplishments to his friends.He was so happy to be grandfather to Nathan and Nicholas and had a special bond Chelsea.
Gary was a devoted, loving husband, father, son and son-in-law.He will be missed.May he rest in peace.
Gary will be buried at Riverside National Cemetery.The Military Service will be held at a later date due to the current restrictions on gatherings.A celebration of life will be held in conjunction with the Military Service.