I only met gary once. He was a very likeable fellow, down to earth nice guy. My condolences go out to his family and friends. RIP.
Never met him, but from this thread seems like a very respectable guy. Big shame to hear of this news. Hope he has a great time with Enzo in the after life. RIP
Never met Gary before. May he rest in peace and my sincere condolences to his family and his friends.
For those who are interested in the services, I received the following by e-mail earlier today: On Thursday, October 26, 2006 there will be a funneral service for Gary Eisenberg. It will be at Congregation Beth Israel, 5716 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel, Ca at 2:00PM. Following the service will be the enterment at Mission Memorial Cemetary in Seaside, Ca. In lieu of gifts or flowers, please make contributions to your favorite charity.
Very sorry to hear of this. Didn't know Gary, but losing a passionate car enthusiast is like losing a friend I just haven't met yet. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends in their time of loss.
For those of you who never met Gary in person, he was a really great guy with a good sense of humor. Everyone I knew in town, who knew Gary, liked him a lot. Not only did he have an Enzo, but he also had quite a number of other Ferraris, all of which he enjoyed. He was a true car enthusiast and not afraid to drive and enjoy his cars. Like I say, he was regarded as a "real car guy" by the other Ferrari owners in town. I met Gary some years ago during a photo shot for Forza Magazine. Both Gary and I live in Monterey and we both happened to have silver 355's at the same time - mine was a coupe and his was a spider. If you look up the "355 buyers guide" issue in Forza, you can see pictures of both cars. Winston Goodfellow photographed our cars out by the airport while Gary and I chatted about Ferraris and cars in general. He told me about how he got his start in business and the first big deal he made to make his first million dollars. I later went up to his house where he showed me his car collection and where I met his wife, Mona. I believe I'm correct when I say that Gary was one of the original 20 or so people who started what later became Nextel. I know he was also working on a new project recently, but because of SEC regulations, he wasn't able to tell me too much about it. All I know is he said it was going to be "big" and that "you'd hear about it" Knowing Gary, I'm sure it would have been . Even though Gary was obviously well off and very successful in business, he was very down to earth and always came across as a real regular guy. I ran into him a couple of times around the local Ferrari repair shop and always had a good time chatting with him. The last time I saw Gary was at the dinner he hosted in Carmel. There I saw his Enzo for the first time in person and also met his son, who had flown in. The dinner was great and everyone was having a great time. Gary went out of his way to make sure everyone who brought their Ferraris out had safe parking for the cars - he even had a guy there to help guide you in and out of the parking and watch over the cars during dinner (they had blocked off a street in Carmel for the event). It was a great time. My buddy Tony (tonyc on here) also knew Gary and lived just down the road from him. We were all scheduled to get together next month and record the volume levels on our 360's to compare exhaust sounds. I had also recently been talking to Gary about maybe bringing his Enzo or one of his cars up to the Santana Row meet some Saturday. I think the only thing that kept him from doing it sooner was that he had recently had his driveway resurfaced and had to avoid driving on it for a month. Otherwise, I bet he would have brought the Enzo out for everyone to enjoy - that's just the kind of guy he was: not afraid to drive and enjoy even a million dollar Ferrari. While it's always tragic to see someone we know and respect meet with an untimely death, I think it is fair to say that Gary probably died doing one of the things he loved best. As his wife Mona has already said, he loved his Ferraris more than anyone can imagine. Gary was a stand-up guy and I'm sure by virtue of his great successes in life, an honest man. He will be missed by everyone who knew him in Monterey and I'm sure most of all by Mona and his family. R.I.P. Gary Sincerely, Ray Johns
My deepest condolences to his family. I did not know Gary, but like Dave said, losing a fellow car entusiast touches us all.
Really sad, my condolences to the family. Anyone have any details on exactly what caused the accident?
There aren't really a lot of details yet as near as I can see. A few local people have been by the crash site. The local paper may have a story on it in the next couple of days - not sure. So far this is all I have seen on the local paper's website: http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/15821583.htm Firefighters find body in burning vehicle A person was confirmed dead after firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire and possible accident in Monterey on Saturday, according to California Highway Patrol dispatchers. According to CHP logs, the vehicle was discovered about 6 p.m. on Bit Road just south of the Monterey-Salinas Highway. Rescuers responding to reports of a grass fire found a body in a burning vehicle that may have hit a tree, reports indicated. Salinas Rural Fire District personnel and Monterey County Sheriff's Office investigators were at the scene late Friday. No further details were available.
