Gary McNab

Gary McNab, longtime Mankato area resident, died peacefully at age 78 on October 23, 2023.

The consummate outdoorsman, and conservationist Gary Daniel McNab was born to Roland and Hazel McNab in a snowstorm on February 3, 1945, in Worthington MN. Gary attended Brewster High School, and graduated in 1963. An all-around athlete, he was All-Conference in 3 sports and All-State in football his senior year. Gary was highly recruited his senior year, and was offered scholarships from Minnesota, Nebraska, and Rutgers universities, but decided instead to attend Mankato State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Science.
He then ventured off into the night club business. He owned two-night clubs, one in Alexandria and one in Mankato. He also owned an advertising business in Alexandria.

Gary became a Bush Pilot and flew in and out of Canada as well as the Alexandria MN area for hunting and fishing.
Always the adventurer, Gary then moved to Alaska and became a commercial fisherman for a year and greatly enjoyed that experience. He loved “The Last Frontier” state for its untouched beauty, and great hunting and fishing.

Gary then moved back to Mankato MN, where he owned the infamous Mac’s bar, where he cultivated hundreds of friendships with locals from the Mankato area.

He was big into conservation and turned land on the McNab family farm near Brewster into a conservation habitat as he loved wildlife.
He had a great passion for duck hunting like no other; waterfowl was one of his favorites. He had a hunting shack in North Dakota (talk about stories). Gary also enjoyed big game hunts with friends in search of bear, moose, and deer. He also liked small game hunting where he could watch his dog work. If you knew Gary, you knew he loved the great outdoors and his multiple hunting dogs. He never met a dog he did not love. He was a dog lover of his many Retrievers, Chesapeakes, and Labradors, who always captured his heart.  His dogs were well trained, and you could find them right there beside him in the field, at his bar and of course always riding shotgun in his truck.
Gary had one true love in his lifetime.
Gary was blessed with a wonderful family; his brothers were like his best friends, and he loved his parents. He truly loved his niece and nephew and shared this love with their children, treating them as if they were his own.
Gary, in his later years, was able to enjoy country living among the thousands of trees on his property near Waseca MN.

Gary transitioned from a hunter to a total conservationist. You would find him feeding a multitude of birds, sitting outside sipping his morning coffee, watching the turkeys, deer and all of what nature provided. He even had wild turkeys hop into his nephew’s car and lap looking for food that Gary provided every day. His nephew Mike and his family were able to enjoy time at his home watching wildlife and taking in stories, laughs and at times tears. Gary had a very compassionate heart, his grizzly Adams exterior would fool you, but once you knew him, you were blessed by his big heart and sentimental moments. He also had a great sense of humor and would love to laugh.

He was of course also a great fan of the Minnesota Vikings and Twins. He used to sell drinks to Hall of Fame players such as Carl Eller during the Vikings summer camp at the old Rathskellar bar in Mankato.

In closing Gary would like everyone who knew him to laugh and celebrate the many positive life experiences they may have had with him. Gary would really like that.

As per Gary’s request there will be no services.

Gary is survived by a brother, Warren (Gayla) McNab of Las Vegas; Nephew Mike (Colleen), and their children Duncan, Mason and Madison McNab of Paynesville; Niece Kellie Dunn of Springfield and her children, Sarah of Minneapolis  and Molly (Jordan)  Kleist of St. Paul;  and sister in-law LaVerna McNab, Lake Crystal
Preceded in death by: father, Roland McNab, mother Hazel McNab, brother Rodney McNab, and many friends.

 

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