Edition 6-10-04

 


Thanks Bullet
This was just received from Chrome

 I have found out that there are at least two more ride place. So here are the three choices. They will all end up at Sandy Baptist Church.
 
1) Dan's Sarasota Cycle World, 12 noon
2) Will's Honkytonk, 1 pm
3) Rossiter's' Harley Davidson, 1 pm


There will also be a Memorial Gathering following the funeral services at
Gene Helfrick's Ranch in Myakka City, (Everyone is welcome). This is the same place as the West Coast ABATE Rodeo is held. DIRECTIONS: Take SR70 South to Brendle Rd East of Charlot Ranch. 10745 Brendle Road Myakka City, Fl., with food and music, donations for Gary's family will be accepted there as well.

The Funeral service for Gary Sleezer
will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday,  June 12, 2004 at Sandy Baptist Church in Myakka City
on the corner of Clay Gully Rd. & Sugarbowl Rds.

There will be no wake or viewing.
A memorial ride is being planned for a later time.
Donations for Gary's family are being accepted at Rossiter's Harley Davidson.


Gary C. Sleezer, 54, of Myakka City, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident 
that happened about 50 feet north of County Road 675, in front of the C&A Country Store.

Donna Byrne and Karen Hand were talking at Hand's hot dog cart in the parking lot around 12:30 p.m. when they both heard a terrible crash. Byrne said she saw Sleezer fly over the hood and hit the windshield of a 1996 hunter green GMC Yukon driven by Martin Hernandez, 37, of Ellenton.

"I heard the crash, then saw everything fly," Hand said.

Byrne ran over to Sleezer and tried to help, but it was too late.

"911 tried to tell me what I needed to do," she said. 
"The paramedics said he was dead on impact.

"They said there was nothing I could have done, but I feel so guilty."

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Sleezer was heading south on
U.S. 301 on his 2004 Buell motorcycle in the left turn lane approaching County
 Road 675. Sleezer was traveling behind a large box-type truck, troopers reported.

Hernandez was headed north on U.S. 301 when Sleezer "attempted to turn
left into a parking lot and failed to observe" Hernandez's vehicle, entering
 into the direct path of the SUV, reports stated.

The SUV struck the right side of the motorcycle, which went underneath the SUV.

Sleezer was wearing a helmet and eye protection at the time of the crash.

No charges will be filed in the crash, according to an FHP news release.
 No alcohol or drugs were involved in the accident, the report stated.

Sleezer was a lifelong biker who worked for Rossiter's Harley-Davidson
in Sarasota. Sleezer leaves behind a wife, Mary, and a son, Aaron. 
He also leaves behind a long list of biker friends from across the country.

Rossiter's will be unofficially closing at 12:30 pm Saturday with a skeleton crew till 4pm, in honor of Gary Sleezer's funeral.

Posted on Thu, Jun. 10, 2004 

Family, friends honor biker
Gary Sleezer had been an icon among local Harley-Davidson riders for 25 years
RICHARD DYMOND
Herald Staff Writer

SARASOTA - Every January, hundreds of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts would trek to Gary and Mary Sleezer's three-acre spread just past Verna Bethany Road in Myakka City for a pig roast that would last a full weekend.

But at 2 p.m. this Saturday, hundreds will gather at Sandy Baptist Memorial Church on Clay Gulley and Sugar Bowl Road not for Gary Sleezer's annual birthday bash, but to say goodbye to Sleezer, an icon in local Harley-Davidson circles the last 25 years.

The 54-year-old was killed Tuesday in Parrish while testing a 2004 Buell motorcycle for his employer, Rossiter's Harley-Davidson of Sarasota. Gary Sleezer was attempting to turn left into a parking lot when he was struck by an SUV. No charges will be filed in the crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

At 325 pounds, with a short beard, Gary Sleezer looked so much like everyone's image of a Harley guy that people would part the way for him as he approached, said Mary Sleezer, his wife of 21 years.

But even though he owned seven Harleys, he was a gentle man, his friends said.

"Gary was a real laid-back guy who would do anything for you," said Matthew Donley, the service co-foreman at Rossiter's. "If you needed the shirt off his back, he would give it to you. He was a great guy."

Local artist Jack Dowd chose Sleezer to model for a biker sculpture with a life-size biker on an actual Harley.

The sculpture shows Sleezer smoking a cigar and wearing his customary engineer boots and a helmet covered in biker philosophy like "Ugly is in" and "POW-MIA, you are not forgotten." The piece resides in the showroom at Rossiter's Sarasota store.

"It will be hard to look at that every day," said store owner Rick Rossiter. "Gary was the most likeable person I have ever known. He was a great, big, lovable bear. He had a burly biker look, but he was a big teddy bear."

Sleezer leaves behind a legacy of doing things most others would only dream about.

He was an area kick-boxing champion, Toughman Contest champ, underwater bridge welder and also worked on Mel Fisher's treasure hunting project looking for the Atocha, Rossiter said.

"He has driven his bike everywhere from Daytona to Sturgis," Rossiter said. "That's why it's pretty shocking that someone who rode that long could be involved in a crash. We thought he was indestructible."

Sleezer was comfortable with his size, never considering a diet when the world included his wife's meat loaf, which was made from an old Sleezer family recipe.

"I will always remember his laughter and his smile," Mary Sleezer said Wednesday, during a visit to the store, where her husband was a technician the past seven years.

The bond between Sleezer and his 10-year-old son, Aaron, was strong.

Of the seven Harleys at the Sleezer home in Myakka City, one is a 1957 K Model black Sportster that Gary Sleezer built for Aaron. He engraved Aaron's birthday, 8-27-93, on the casings. Sleezer's own pride was an antique 1948 flathead.

Sleezer grew up in Millbrook, Ill., and, contrary to myth, was once thin.

"His mother's family raised chickens during the Depression," Mary Sleezer said. "His dad farmed. When Gary was 19 he won an all-around cowboy award at a rodeo. Back then he was thin and could really rodeo."

The men who worked with him in the shop at Rossiter's were still in shock Wednesday.

A college fund has been set up for Aaron Sleezer at Rossiter's Harley-Davidson, 330 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota.

"Gary was a very, very big, gentle person," said Ernie Antonelli, service supervisor. "His heart was as big as his body. He was always willing to help anyone with a loan. His friends were his life. Now, I hope people will open their hearts to that family he left behind."

Richard Dymond, East Manatee reporter, can be reached at  782-5517.