Gary Lindsay profile

“I became a real student and buckled down.” says Gary Lindsay, a retired teacher from Kennedy.  He explained that in high school he was not the greatest student. He did not do his homework often, resulting in mediocre grades. But, regardless, his standardized tests showed how much he academically excelled. He also didn’t have many friends since he had left his old town and moved to Mason City in 5th grade. Mason city is a small, tight-knit community in Iowa, and by the time him and his family moved, all of his soon to be classmates had already made their “clicks.” 

Other than dealing with school drama, Lindsay really enjoyed playing sports. In high school he was a starter on his school football team.  He tells us that, "The main reason I played football is because I got cut from the basketball team four years in a row.” Although Lindsay was better than some of the basketball players that tried out, he didn’t make it on the team. The coach had already had all his players lined up for the team, but later explained to Lindsay that he grew close to some of the players over the years. Some of them had even been playing since they were little kids and he didn’t want to replace one of the ten players with him because of it. Lindsay exclaimed that, “they soon regretted only having ten players on their team, when a player got injured. They could have used me then.” Even though he was cut again and again he kept his positivity level high! Aside from getting cut from basketball and playing football, he kicked it with the track team. He also went out for wrestling, but it turned out to be just as bad as he thought, so he quit after only one week. Even in his late 50s, Lindsay still shoot hoops with a recreational basketball club.  

Through all of the drama, discouragement, and pain Lindsay had been impacted by all his teachers. So much that he became a teacher himself and taught Journalism and Language Arts for 40 years! This career started in 1971 and he finally retired in 2011. 

Besides his activities in the past, music has always been a large piece of Lindsay’s life. By college he had already played almost every brass instrument! Besides playing instruments, he also is very devoted to singing. He sings bass in a barbershop harmony acapella group called the “Harmony Hawks” which is a choir for males to 16 and older, Lindsay is also the president of the group. As well as singing with the Hawks, he also sings for his church, which is St. Paul's United Methodist Church, and works in the hiring department. But for his personal music taste, he enjoys folk and folk country, as well as contemporary and simples.  Lindsay is also very appreciative of songs that are written and sang by the same person. Susan Warner is someone he admires because she sings and writes her own music and is very meaningful. 

Lindsay has before doubted his career but stuck with it because he believed God wanted him to. His family is a big part of how he keeps on doing what he is doing. It pushes him to be the best he can be. And as of right now, Lindsay is proud of what he has made of his life and is happy of who he has become!