Gary Lee Sontag, Sr.

A funeral service for Gary Lee Sontag, Sr. will be held at 11am, on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, at the Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home in Newark. Burial will follow in Newark Memorial Gardens, where the Licking County Veterans Alliance will render Military Funeral Honors. Family and friends may call from 4pm-7pm, on Tuesday, at the funeral home, 179 Granville Street. Gary, age 80, passed away unexpectedly, Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at Licking Memorial Hospital. He was born on January 7, 1941, in Marion, a son of the late George and Alberta (Thomas) Sontag. Gary made armed service his career, serving 21 years in the US Army. He was a member of the Newark Shriners and Masonic Lodge, F.&A.M. He enjoyed watching western movies, especially those starring John Wayne, so much that he could recite lines from the movies before the characters said them. Bluegrass and country music and watching wrestling on TV were also favorite pastimes. Surviving are his children, Monika Howard, Kenneth Sontag (Courtney), Gary Sontag, Jr. (Penny), step son, Jim Bishop (Patti), step daughters, Julie Bishop (Ben), Karen Betscher (Bill); many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews and his beloved dog, Joe Lee. Preceding Gary in death were his first wife, Gretel Sontag and his second wife, Ruth Sontag; step son Jeffrey Bishop and his brother Bill Sontag and sister Betty Sontag. The Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home is honored to serve the Sontag family: www.hoskinsonfuneral.com