Gary Gayln Cleveland

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Cleveland Gary Gayln Cleveland, of Brooklyn Center, age 61, on January 4, of esophageal cancer. Survived by daughter, Maria Cleveland; mother, Eunice Cleveland; close friend, Susan Elsner; as well as many other loving relatives and friends. Preceded in death by father, Darrell Cleveland. Born January 18, 1942 in Hastings, Nebraska, Gary grew up in Omaha and in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1955, at the age of thirteen, he became interested in weightlifting. Training first on his own, and later at the Boys Club in St. Louis and the York Bar Bell Club in York, Pennsylvania, he became a world class lifter. He won the U.S. Junior National Weightlifting Championship in 1960 (75kg class) and competed in six U.S. Senior National Weightlifing Championships, winning the title in 1964 and 1965 (82.5kg class). Gary was a member of the 1962 and 1963 U.S. World Championship Teams and a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team. In 1966, after graduating from the University of Minnesota, Gary joined the Peace Corps and served in Ecuador. After returning, he joined Hennepin County, where he worked for over twenty-five years as a systems analyst. In 1998, Gary stunned crowds and judges alike taking the gold in the Individual Snow Dance at the inaugural Tettegoughe Winter Olympics. The same year he published the "First Principles of the Wisdom of Divine Avian Fluid Movement", an "interpretation" of the "lost teachings of Louis Cyr." After his retirement from Hennepin County, in 2000 Gary focused his energies in the areas of travel and writing. He refined the "Avian Movement Advocate", a monthly newsletter combining whimsical musing with "iron game" history and serious weightlifting analysis, which he published until his death. A memorial service was held on Saturday, Jan. 10. Memorials preferred to Rails to Trails Conservancy, Attn: Wendy Ellman, 1100 17th Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036. Washburn-McReavy Hillside Chapel 2610 19th Ave NE 612-781-1999

Published on January 8, 2004