After a commitment he made to his dying wife and growing medical bills left him penniless, a once prominent architect was forced to bag groceries.
Gary Saling, 80, of Utah, has been working four days a week at Smith’s Market in St. George for years, but with the help of others, he may soon be able to enjoy a well-earned retirement.
About six months after his wife, Carol, passed away from two types of dementia, including the uncommon and violent Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, the elderly man began working in December 2020.
For around three and a half years, his artist wife suffered, but he stood by her side no matter what.
“I promised myself, God, her, her brother, her son and daughter, (her stepsons), I promised them I would not put her in a nursing home,” Saling stated on Sunday. “I’d keep her at home and I kept it.”
With other medical fees the two had to pay over the years, the at-home care expenses skyrocketed to $80,000 as a result of the dedication.
He stated, “I paid it all, that’s why I’m broke,” saying that the at-home care accounted for almost $40,000.
The California native, who worked as a supermarket bagger as a child, spent decades as a gifted architect, creating multimillion-dollar homes for well-known clients, such as Boyd Jefferies, founder of Jeffries Investment Group, in Laguna Beach.
Saling’s employer even made four appearances on Architectural Digest’s top 100 list.
In 1990, Gary and Carol, who are both single parents with failed first marriages, met while he was strolling along a sidewalk after leaving a park and she was driving. After catching a glimpse of one another, the two spent over three hours conversing on a park bench.
They became engaged the next year and were married shortly after. When the couple’s children from their prior marriages grew up, they relocated from the Golden State to Montana.
“We fell in love the day that we met at the park,” he stated. “We admitted that to each other later when we were dating.”
After years of straining his brain to build homes, he desired a job that required less thought, so he chose the position at Smith’s.
He has also had the opportunity to meet locals and form new friendships thanks to the job, such as Duana Johnson, who was curious as to why he was still putting in a lot of effort at the age of 80.
She immediately launched a campaign that gained momentum last week after he told her his story and that he would probably need to work until the end of his days.
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As of Sunday afternoon, about $40,000 had been contributed, which Saling says will allow him to retire by the end of June. According to Johnson, donors can identify with the devoted husband’s devotion to his wife.
“It’s awesome to see that because it shows there’s a lot of compassion and love in our country that a lot of people are speaking against,” Johnson stated. “A lot of people are saying it’s not that way, but I’m seeing the opposite.”
“Gary told me that Carol was very faithful, she loved the Lord,” Johnson continued.
“I just feel like her prayers for him as she was leaving this earth are being answered. She loved him so much.”
Saling said the kindness left him “speechless” and “overloaded with gratitude.”
“People have said ‘oh what a hero, or an angel or some people have even said saint.’ Well my response to them … I’m certainly not a hero, certainly not an angel and far from a saint,” Saling stated.
“I took care of her at home from the day she was diagnosed till I held her in my arms when she took her last breath and it was because I took vows, it’s as simple as that. I took vows in sickness and in health.”
