February 22, 1936 – November 23, 2020

A member of the Southern California Chapter since 1965, Gary Karner, FASLA was a licensed landscape architect for over 60 years working in design and implementation  of development projects.  He specialized in review and negotiation of landscape architectural professional service contracts and risk management for The SWA Group, with seven offices located in California, Texas, New York, and Shanghai.

A passionate, wildly smart, world-traveling, hot-tempered Irishman, he was also a marvelously talented and loving father, husband, professor, and artist who was not nearly done with this world.

Gary was born February 22, 1936 in Los Angeles, CA at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital to loving parents, Earl and Edith Karner.

In 1945, he lived on a ranch in Indian Valley, north of Bradley CA for a short time; then 3 miles south of Paso Robles.  The family then moved to China Lake Naval Weapons Station, adjacent to Ridgecrest, CA in 1946, where he went to grammar school and high school at Burroughs High School, graduating in 1953.   From there he attended Pomona College in Pomona, CA, studying in various majors; then transferred to UC Berkeley, where he obtained his BSLA, Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, in 1958.

In 1959, he married Judith Ann Loewy and moved to Watertown, MA to attend Harvard Graduate School of Design, graduating from there in 1961 with a Master in Landscape Architecture.  Three sons were born of that marriage, David Scott Karner, Mark Christopher Karner, and Daniel Brook Karner.  Gary and Judy divorced in 1978.

After graduating from Harvard, he worked as Associate Executive Director with Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates in Watertown, MA, later to be known as Sasaki, Walker and Associates (SWA).

He returned to the West Coast in 1966, joining Peter Walker at SWA in San Francisco.  In 1969 he became a Principal in SWA.  In 1972, SWA became the SWA Group and Gary was a co-managing principal in the SWA Group, Sausalito office until 1976.

In 1976, he resigned from the SWA Group and moved to San Luis Obispo and entered real estate brokerage as president of Central Coast Investments, Inc., specializing in tax-deferred IRS Code 1031 exchanges of real properties and serving as Vice-President of the National Council of Exchangors in 1980.

In 1980, he married Pandora Nash and they returned to Marin County, CA in 1980 where Gary rejoined SWA Group, Sausalito to co-manage that office until 1987 when son, Mark, died from Hodgkins Disease.  Gary left SWA Group in 1987 to join the faculty of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he taught from 1987 to 2000 as a Lecturer and as Associate Department Head from 1989-1999.  During that time, he authored “Contracting Design Services” supported by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

In 1987, Gary became a Consulting Principal with SWA Group, specializing in contract review and risk management and he continued in that role with SWA until 2017. Gary was a life-long member of the ASLA, serving in several offices in the Northern California and Southern California Chapters, and was elected to Fellow of the Society in 1991, the Fellowship being awarded for executed projects and professional writing.

After retiring from Cal Poly in 2000, he focused his attention on a new business in investing family resources in the stock market and developed his own method of “beating the market” (beating the S&P 500) each year in which he was successful over many years.

Gary served as member of the Board of Directors of the Bay Foundation of Morro Bay from 1995 to 2013, serving as Treasurer from 2001 – 2009.  He was also involved in many Los Osos community projects and advisory groups in San Luis Obispo County  from 1987 to 2003, and contributed to many support non-profits in the County until his death.

He and Pandora were elected Citizens of the Year in Los Osos for 1999.

Gary leaves his loving wife, Pandora, and sons David Scott Karner, Daniel B. Karner and his wife Jessica Karner, and Eriel Shayne Nash, and grandchildren Claire, Calvin and Camille Karner.

His last words were:  “I’ve tried in this life to keep my shit in one neat pile and not step in it too often.”

The Chapter only recently learned of the passing of Mr. Karner.

Vicki Phillipy, the Chapter’s Executive Director, had the opportunity to see Gary regularly on his many visits to The SWA Group office in Laguna Beach. After leaving SWA, Vicki stayed in touch with him through ASLA as Gary was a long time member of the Southern California Chapter.  Vicki remembers him with such fondness and said that he was one of the kindest and most generous individuals she ever had the opportunity to know. “It never mattered to Gary what position you held in the company; everyone was just as important to him as anyone else.  He always took time to visit with me and ask how I was doing.  We had long chats. People come into our lives  for a reason, others for a season; and some for a lifetime.  Gary will be missed.”