Gary Carlson

Gary Carlson, 75 of Bristol died on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at his home in Bristol. Funeral services will be at 10:30 A.M. Monday, October 5, 2015 at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Groton, Rev. Jack Trosen officiating. Burial will be in the Bristol Cemetery. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Sunday 5-7 P.M. and prior to services at the church. Gary Arthur Carlson was born on Saturday, May 4, 1940 to Franz and Delila (Easterby) Carlson at Bristol, South Dakota. He was baptized at the Holiness Methodist Church in Bristol. He attended school in Bristol and graduated from Bristol High School in 1958. After high school he worked at Bristol School driving school bus, as a carpenter and Johnny’s Shop. In 1962 he moved to Minnepolis, Minnesota where he met his future wife, Candace. On March 23, 1963 he was united in marriage to Candace Lanz at Sidney, Montana. After their marriage the couple moved to Bristol where he worked at Bristol Lumber. In 1970 he purchased and operated the lumber business. During the time he owned the business he built apartments in Bristol and Pierpont and many other homes in the area. He also was the contractor for the building of the Bristol Pool. In 1983 he went to work driving truck for Harold Orr where he hauled grain into Minneapolis. In the early 1990’s he went to work for Holmquist Lumber for several years and then went back to truck driving and hauled around the country. He later semi-retired and drove truck part-time for area farmers. He attended the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Groton. He was a 50 year member of the Bristol Fire Department where he was Fire Chief and took many fire training courses. Gary was Mayor of Bristol, was a Bristol P.T.A. member and served as President and served on the W.E.B. Water Board. Gary, along with his family, enjoyed spending time at their lake cabin on Blue Dog Lake where he enjoyed boating and water skiing. Gary passed away on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 at his home in Bristol, South Dakota at the age of 75 years, 4 months and 25 days. Survivors include his wife, Candace of Bristol; one son, Steve (Robbin) Carlson of Bristol; four daughters, Nancy (Romeo) Leal of Houston, TX, Jan Carlson of Peachland, NC, Angie (Robert) Morse of Biloxi, MS and Amy Carlson of London, England; one brother, Gale Carlson of Bristol; and seven grandchildren, Jack Carlson, Riley, Risa, Reaganne and Remington Leal and Nathan and Daniel Morse. He was preceded in death by his parents.