George Gartner

George Gartner III of Houston, Texas passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family after a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer. George was born to Gloria and George Gartner Jr. on February 9, 1954 in Tacoma, Washington.

He is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Donna Gartner, his daughters Heather Lam and her husband Cuong Lam, Melissa Seunsom and her husband Guy Seunsom and Katie Rehrer and her husband Seth Rehrer. He is also survived by 9 amazing grandchildren, Ethan, Talan and Kai Lam, Maddy, Preslie and Asher Seunsom and Harper, Sawyer and Collins Rehrer. He is also survived by his mother Gloria Allen Gartner and his brother Mark Gartner, as well as numerous family members including nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father George Gartner Jr.

George was the third generation to run a successful family business, F.W. Gartner, established in 1923. He started working in the family business at age 15. After graduating from University of Houston, he worked full time at almost every position in the company. When his dad passed away in 1989, he was left in charge of the business, and in 1992 he bought the business from his family. During his tenure as Owner/President, he opened up two more divisions which made a total of 6 rental stores across south Texas. He was a long-time member of American Rental Association and Texas Rental Association and served on various committees of both organizations.

He sold the rental division of the family business in 2000, but retained ownership of the Coatings Division of the Company. In 2001, George moved and expanded the Coatings Division from Houston to a 10 acre facility in Pearland, Texas and changed the name to Gartner Coatings. He grew the Coatings Division from 12 employees to 40 employees in four years.

George was very passionate about politics and hosted many Meet and Greets for our state and local representatives. He served on the Pearland Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 2010 – 2012 and was a Founding Member of The Strategic Workforce Development Team (S.W.A.T.), a group of owners who worked closely with City of Pearland officials to change UDC codes to ease the difficulty of retention and expansion projects within the city limits.

George loved spending time with his family and friends. He was passionate about racquetball, Texas Country music, working with his employees, and offshore fishing. On July 11, 2014, Team Legacy caught the Texas state record blue marlin weighing 972.7 pounds. He will be remembered as a man of great integrity and generosity. He was loved by many and will be greatly missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. at Gateway Church on Clear Lake City Boulevard. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his honor to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at PanCan.org.