Gary Mintz

Gary Mintz passed away on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, following complications from a stroke and a form of leukemia.  He was 88 years old.  A true American success story, Gary emigrated with his parents from Baranowicze, Poland at the age of five and settled in Oakland, California where they were part of a large, extended family.  His mother passed when he was only seven years old.  With the start of the Second World War and his father’s civilian war duty and day job responsibilities, Gary and his younger brother, the late Stanley Mintz, were sent for several years to a children’s home.  After the war, Gary and Stanley’s father remarried and the family, now including another brother, Paul, lived in Oakland. Gary graduated from Oakland High School in 1951.  After attending San Francisco City College for a year, Gary served in the United States Army reaching the rank of sergeant.  Following his honorable discharge, Gary graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1958 with a degree in business.  There, he met and married his first wife, the late Natalie Veitzer Mintz.  They had two children, Ron and Rusty.  The family relocated to Los Angeles where Gary was a senior executive at White Front Stores.  Later, he was involved in various successful entrepreneurial efforts including most notably the Great American Group. He met and later married his second wife, the late Celine (Cookie) Mintz, in the early 1970s.  She was the love of his life.  That relationship lasted for over forty years and came with a daughter, Dana Gumaer whom Gary adopted, and a son, the late Mark Weitz.  After Cookie’s death, Gary found happiness with his third wife, the late Carolyn Gold Mintz.  Her death, just a year after the wedding, was a challenge, but Gary found happiness once again with his companion Geri Greenbaum.  He also enjoyed many friendships, including those from the El Caballero County Club and the Valley Jesters.  He was a man of few words but made every word count.  He enjoyed golf, watching sports, smoking cigars, and was known for his great head of hair. Gary is survived by his sons and daughter; his daughters-in-law Jessica Cahen and Lori Paulk Mintz; his brother; and six grandchildren: Chelsea Anderson (and her husband Kyle Anderson), Brandon Gumaer, Chase Gumaer, Sophie Mintz, Channing Weitz, and Daelyn Weitz; nieces Sandra Mintz-Cohen and Deborah Murray and their families; sisters-in-law Glenda Mintz and Sunnie Singer (Larry Lichenstein); brother-in-law Michael Luftman; and several nephews and nieces by marriage. Funeral services will be held on Monday, May 9, 2022 at 2:00 pm at the Mount Sinai Chapel, 5950 Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, CA  90068.  In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Valley Jesters would be welcomed at 4123 N. Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA  91602.