Gary Dale Newton

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Gary Newton was raised on a farm, lived all but 18 months on a farm, and took his last breath on a farm. Gary Newton was all farm. He worked large, loved large, lived large.

With Mrs. Powell’s help, Gary Dale Newton was born in Yuma, June 29, 1941 at ‘Mrs. Powell’s house’ north of the railroad tracks to parents Bonnie Jean (Armagost) & Otto Newton Sr. and siblings Roberta Ann (“Sis”) and Otto Newton Jr. (“Juny”).

Gary was all boy. As an infant, when Gary finished the milk in his baby bottle, he would fling it. That got too expensive so his parents started using pop bottles for Gary’s milk bottles, as they were heavier and cheaper if he broke one.

Gary had a quintessential childhood on several farmsteads in the Eckley area, hemmed-in in the best possible way in all directions within Yuma County by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides of the family. They had a big garden, chickens, pigs, cattle and milk cows. Gary learned hard work, focus, determination and grit working alongside his family.

Gary & Juny used an old garden as a playground. They would dig a shallow hole about four feet across and make roads and garages along the sides of it and would play ‘farmer’ - the whole while calling each other ‘Charley’.

While growing up, Gary had a pet badger. He played the clarinet in school. His main and favorite activity during his school years was hunting.

Thirteen-year-old Theresa Kain remembers meeting 16-year-old Gary at the farm of Jim & Nora Brophy when she & her siblings Celeste & Pat & parents Clyde & Julia were visiting them. That particular day, John, one of Jim & Nora’s sons, had his airplane at the farm. He was giving people airplane rides. Gary asked Theresa if she would ride in the plane with him so she did.

Not long after she turned 14, Theresa had her older brother Pat ask Gary if he would like to go to a movie in Yuma. The three of them went. Gary & Theresa dated for a year or two until Theresa thought she wanted to date some of the Haxtun boys for a while. She did for several years, but then Gary & Theresa started dating again.

After graduation from Yuma High School in 1959, Gary attended CU in Boulder, which he considered his first mistake as an adult. After one semester, he decided to go to work for Denver Elevator in Eastlake, Colorado.

In 1961, Gary’s dad purchased his first farm and Gary returned home to help him. They drilled an irrigation well in 1962 and furrow irrigated 240 acres.

Gary married Theresa Kain June 16, 1962 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Haxtun, Colorado. They rented a small farm and ranch five miles west of Wray on the Republican River. During that time, Gary worked with his dad and several other farmers. Gary said he must not have worked too hard because while living there they had three boys in seven years (Joe (1963); Pete (1965); Mike (1966).

Gary & Theresa purchased farmland south of Eckley in 1965 and in 1968 Gary developed irrigation for growing grass for cattle grazing. They moved to Eckley in 1969 to be closer to the farm and 1970 their fourth son Troy was born.

In 1972, Gary & Theresa purchased Gary’s dad’s farm. They built and moved to their current home southeast of Eckley in 1975.

Gary started Agri-Inject in 1983, building chemigation units he invented. Farmers throughout Colorado and neighboring states adopted chemigation so rapidly, in 1985 they had to move Agri-Inject from their farm southeast of Eckley into Yuma and step-up production to meet industry demands. In 1991, they outgrew that location and moved Agri-Inject to its present location on the east side of Yuma. Agri-Inject then began selling chemigation units all over the world. 

As Agri-Inject was taking most of Gary’s time, it allowed the boys to take over the farming operation in the mid-1980s. With all four sons wanting to farm, they purchased additional irrigated farms in 1987 and doubled their farming operation.

Gary had an additional invention of the Farmhand Stack Mover. Gary’s other business ventures included buying land and countless other fixer-uppers.

The untimely deaths of his daughter-in-law Kim in 2004 and his youngest son Troy in 2005 left Gary “hurting beyond belief”. Not long after, Gary began making beautiful, palm-size & smaller, smoothed, varnished, no two alike hearts out of lovely unique types of wood and gifting them to parents who had experienced the death of a child. He probably made & gave away dozens upon dozens of hearts and was still making them the last months of his life.

Gary liked, said and lived by the KISS principle – “Keep it simple, Stupid”.

Some words describing Gary include: determined, ambitious, driven, disciplined, tireless, sensitive, caring, generous. Hired hand Sergio remembers how important helping others was to Gary and how much Gary helped others.

In February 2023, Gary was given a medical diagnosis of six to twelve months to live. Nearly twelve months later to the day, February 21, 2024 Gary passed on surrounded by his beloved family on his beloved farm.

Gary Dale Newton was raised on a farm, lived all but 18 months on a farm, and took his last breath on a farm. Gary Newton was all farm. He worked large, loved large, lived large.

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