Garry G. Rasmussen

Garry Gordon Rasmussen, 63, of Oreland, PA, beloved husband of Mary Holland and father of Nate and Nick, passed from this life on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 in Mary’s arms after a valiant battle with metastatic lung cancer. We who love him miss him so much. Garry loved life. He had an infectious smile and a quirky sense of humor. He had many skills and interests, but being a loving husband, father, brother, son, and friend were always his top priorities. Garry was born in Kenosha, WI, on Jan. 21, 1957 to Phyllis (MacDougal) and Walter Rasmussen. Walt was a civil engineer, and Phyl was a registered nurse. The family lived in Kenosha, Delovan, and Appleton, Wisconsin, in Rochester NY, and in Springfield, Il. He graduated from Springfield High School in 1975, received his Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University in 1981, and attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual Master’s degrees in Architecture and City Planning in 1983. Garry met his wife, Mary, at Iowa State, and they were together for nearly forty years. They lived in the Art Museum area of Philadelphia until they bought a home in the Germantown neighborhood, where their two sons, Nathaniel and Nicholas, were born in 1993 and 1997. The family moved to their present home in Oreland, Springfield Township, Montgomery County in April of 1998. Garry worked for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission while attending Penn, and continued there after graduation. Thereafter he worked for a few architectural firms in Philadelphia before joining Cope Linder Architects in 1995, where he remained through the end of 2019, working primarily on casinos, hotels, and multi-story apartment buildings, including such well-known projects as the Water Club and the Borgata in Atlantic City, and the W Hotel at 15th & Chestnut in Center City Philadelphia. Garry loved driving small, fast, powerful cars, and following Formula One racing, He enjoyed stand-up comedy, and escorting his wife to plays and musicals. He loved music of many genres, but was most loyal to the works of the Beatles. He taught himself to play guitar, and owned some lovely electric guitars. He loved to fly kites at the beach. He was an accomplished stained glass artist and carpenter, and sold his stained glass works at art shows and through a Chestnut Hill art gallery. He loved traveling, and, a true romantic, planned to take Mary to Paris for her birthday in April 2020, before that plan was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent trips included southern Italy, Yellowstone, and the Montreal Grand Prix. A Celebration of Life service will be conducted on line via Zoom on Aug. 30 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Abramson Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in Garry’s name through https://giving.apps.upenn.edu