Gary Muller, age 84, of Bluffton, SC passed peacefully on Thursday, November 4, 2021.
He was born to Fred and Greta Muller and he and his brother Randy were raised in Fair Lawn, NJ. He graduated from Fairlawn High School with the Class of 1955, where he ran track and cross country. He continued his education at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ where he received his bachelor’s degree with a major in Education and a minor in Psychology. He also played the glockenspiel in the marching band and was a fraternity brother of ZBT where he instigated numerous pranks against the house mother and frat brothers. He later received his master’s degree at Seton Hall in South Orange, NJ in Education and subsequently became an English and History teacher as well as a Guidance Counselor at Riverdale High School in NJ.
Gary met Pat Muller, while working for IBM in Boca Raton, FL in Sept 1972. He had googly eyes for her during his first day at IBM. Their first date was to the movies in 1973 where they saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Pat fell in love with him first because of his beautiful warm brown eyes, his infectious sense of humor and his soft gentle spirit. They were happily married in 1974.
His mother pushed him to learn to play the piano. His talent allowed him to play the piano in a competition at Radio City Music Hall at four years old. That same year he also played piano on the TV show Ted Mack Amateur hour.
For about twenty six years Gary worked for IBM in Boca Raton, FL. where he wrote and edited technical manuals for the Publication Department which was part of the Information Development Division. Gary was a very accomplished writer, editor and teacher who made significant contributions to the success of the development and marketing of the Personal Computer for IBM and Microsoft and the rest of the world who copied his material. Gary tirelessly worked to develop a standardized writing style guide for technical writers and computer engineers to use as they navigated the uncharted new world of bringing the complexity of the computer to average people. While you won’t find Gary’s accomplishments written up in a Wikipedia post, you will experience his writing DNA in any modern computer documentation you see today, both in books and in online help.
He also was the President of the IBM Club. He loved the Yankees and met “The Scooter” Phil Rizzuto at one of the IBM Club award dinners. Phil nicknamed him “Hockey Puck” for no apparent reason.
Gary will be lovingly remembered for his sense of humor, pranks and soft gentle spirit. He loved food, was an avid competitive bowler for decades and adored his family. He also loved his dog Sadie, who never left his side. Gary was of the Jewish faith.
Gary was the best friend and devoted husband of Pat Muller; loving father of Lisa Figatner and her husband Robert of Lawrenceville NJ, Robyn Holbrook of Palm Coast FL, and Craig Muller and his wife Adrienne of Irvine CA; he was the grandfather of Scott and Ashley Figatner, Joshua, Casey and Brandon Holbrook and Jordan and Chloe Muller; Great Grandfather of Leighton Holbrook.
In lieu of flowers, Pat has asked to make a donation in his name to your favorite charity.
