Gary Kurtis Schwartz,78, died peacefully at home on April 3, 2023, in Springdale, Arkansas. Born on April 12, 1944, in Tampa, Florida, to Kurtis W. and Janice Swanson Schwartz, he grew up and completed high school in Wessington Springs, South Dakota.  An active athlete, he participated in football, basketball, baseball and track and field. Gary was South Dakota Prep Athlete of the Year in 1962.  He competed on the University of Kansas track and field team as a discus thrower and was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, graduating in 1966.  Following graduate school at Ohio University, Gary began a 34-year cross country/track and field coaching career as an assistant coach at Ohio University, University of Massachusetts, USMA (West Point) as a member of the US Army, and at Penn State before becoming Penn State's head women's coach, a position he held for five years.  He then was the women's coach at University of Tennessee for four years before returning to the University of Kansas as head coach for men's and women's track and field and cross country for 12 years.  He completed his career at the University of Arkansas in athletic administration.  In his years as a head coach, his athletes earned 133 All-American honors, he coached six top-4 teams at the NCAA Championships and coached eight Olympians.  He was honored to coach at the National Sports Festival twice and served on international coaching staffs for U.S. teams, in Spain, England, Belgium and Canada.  The inaugural president of the U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association, he also served on the NCAA Men's and Women's Track Committee for six years as well as on various national committees from 1980-2005.  Gary was inducted into the Kansas University Athletics Hall of Fame, South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and the initial class of the Wessington Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  An accomplished and humble man, many were unaware of "the rest of the story" and he was most proud of his roles as husband, father and Papa.  An avid fly-fisherman, Gary also enjoyed fly-tying and was involved as a fly-fishing buddy with Reel Recovery Fly-fishing Retreats for men with cancer.  He enjoyed traveling and camping, especially if it included fishing.  He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Cheryl J. Schwartz. The family is grateful for the compassion and care shown by Dr. Yesid Alvarado and his team at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and Dr. Stephan Rosenfeld and his team at Highlands Oncology Group in Springdale, Arkansas, and our helping angels from Circle of Life Hospice of Springdale, Arkansas.

Survivors include his wife, Myrna (Patton) Schwartz; two sons, Michael and his wife, Maureen, and their children, Dane, Francie and Leighton of Leawood, Kansas; and Matthew and his wife, Jennifer, and their son, Oliver, of Lawrence, Kansas; two sisters, Joanne and her husband, Robert Beck, of Cadiz, Kentucky, and Judy K. Schwartz of Wessington Springs, South Dakota; "in-laws and out-laws" Marvin and Carla Mentzer and Donald and Debra Patton of Wessington Springs, South Dakota, Verna and Gary Spencer of Fort Pierre, South Dakota and Kathryn Patton of Maple Grove, Minnesota; and a host of extended family, friends and former athletes.

Memorial services 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at First United Methodist Church, 206 West Johnson Ave., Springdale, Arkansas.  Inurnment will be at Hope Cemetery, Jerauld County, South Dakota, summer, 2023.  Memorial gifts in Gary's honor may be made to: Circle of Life Hospice , Reel Recovery of Arkansas in care of Heritage Funeral Home, 1591 South 48th, Springdale, AR 72762 ; or Penn State Gary Schwartz Endowment/Scholarship Fund