Terry Garletts

Surrounded by family, Terry S. Garletts died on October 31 at the age of 77 in his home in Belmont Estates. He is survived by Cindy his wife of 42 years and their son Stephen; daughter-in-law Lauren and grandson Kaiser of Harrisonburg; sisters Linda (Neil) Tillman of Accokeek, MD and Nancy Kirby of Asheboro, NC; sister-in-law Pamela Garletts of Rockingham; brother-in-law Randy (Teresa) Kiser of McGaheysville; and many beloved nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

He was predeceased by his father Ross (Bud) Garletts and mother Rita Garletts, brother Alan R. Garletts and brother-in-law Bill Kirby.

A lifelong resident of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Terry loved people, and people loved Terry. He was a non judgmental soul, loving people of all shapes, sizes, colors and persuasions. He cherished ties with his childhood friends and his many friendships at Lakeview Golf Course, O’Neill’s Grill, and Rawley Springs. Every July Terry and Cindy hosted a Garletts’ reunion at the family’s rustic cabin in Rawley Springs. A dip in the crisp water of Blue Hole always brought a smile to his face. For many years he held gatherings of friends at the cabin during March Madness enjoying trout fishing, card games, and trail riding.

Terry graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in electrical engineering and remained a fervent fan of the Hokies. He loved rooting for all college teams from Virginia–unless they were playing against his Hokies. He was also a diehard fan of the Washington Commanders through the good and bad years. He was an avid year-round golfer who felt fortunate to continue playing with his buddies and son to the very end. He was surely the ultimate testament to “you don’t have to be good at it to have fun doing it.”

His innate curiosity drove him to investigate the inner workings of mechanical and electrical systems. Nights were spent with a bedside lamp, learning about our universe, how it works, and pondering how it came to be. For the majority of his career, he was an HVAC engineer working at Dunham-Bush and retiring from Daikin McQuay. He maintained friendships with co-workers long into retirement.

Terry died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. His death was preceded by two recent hospital stays where he enjoyed visits from many family and friends. True to form, Terry made new friendships there with hospital staff.

At this time, no service is planned. The family feels like he attended his own celebration of life over the past few weeks as the parade of people came to express their love for him.

Online condolences may be made to the family by visiting www.mcmullenfh.com.

McMullen Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.