ST. GEORGE, Utah — Anyone who shops at the Smith's Market on Bluff in St. George knows Gary Saling, the kind 80-year-old grocery bagger.
What they don’t know he once served Hollywood royalty and designed multi-million-dollar mansions for Wall Street financiers. But he now works to pay off medical bills for the love of his life.
Now, the hard-working Saling is getting a community assist from residents who wonder why he still has to work.
He says he got his workaholic nature from his single mom, who was the head waitress at the famous Victor Hugo’s restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Saling worked three jobs himself in high school, including bagging and delivering groceries in Laguna Beach, California. Saling remembers delivering groceries to a woman he said had a gravely voice and a long cigarette: Actress Bette Davis.
"She said, 'Because your mom has waited on me at Victor Hugo... How I know you're her son is you're just as much of a workaholic as she is,'" Saling said.
That work ethic served him well throughout his career as an architect, designing multi-billion-dollar homes for elite clients. He even made Architectural Digest's top 100 list.
One of his notable projects was a three-story mansion on the coast for Boyd Jefferies, who built the Jefferies Investment Group before being implicated in the insider trading scandals of the 1980s. The home featured a glass floor above the ocean.
"And he goes, 'I love it. It's like an E-ticket ride at Disneyland,'" Saling said.
After his first wife left him in the 1980s, leaving him to raise two sons alone, Saling's life changed when he spotted Carol at a stoplight in 1991.
"I mean, it was the exact instant. We both raised our sunglasses," Saling said, describing their first encounter.
It turned out they had been frequenting the same store for coffee for decades. When the wife of the store's owner discovered this coincidence, she arranged for them to meet.
"She comes around the corner and she's crying and she goes 'Gary, are you telling me you finally ran into Carol?'" Saling recalled, tears in his eyes.
The store owner's wife had them sit on a bench, where their relationship quickly blossomed.
"We fell in love with each other on the bench because we ended up sitting there for three hours," Saling said.
Their love story took a difficult turn in January 2017 when Carol was diagnosed with Sundowner's syndrome, a form of dementia. The couple relocated to southern Utah to be near a neurologist.
"The neurology was covered by Medicare. What wasn't covered was the promise that I would keep her at home and never put her in a nursing home," Saling said.
Carol, an artist, died in 2021, but Saling's love for her continues. Unfortunately, so do the medical bills. He still owes $80,000, which is why he continues to work at 80 years old.
Duana Johnson, who runs a small ministry in town, noticed Saling bagging groceries and decided to help.
"I saw Gary bagging groceries, and I thought, 'What's this guy? Why is this elderly man still here?'" Johnson said.
Johnson organized the Gary Saling Donation account at the State Bank of Southern Utah and set up a Venmo account. So far, they've raised about $2,000, with half of that coming in just the past weekend.
"I'm trying to raise enough money for him to be able to retire and not have to worry about working anymore," Johnson said.
Saling is uncomfortable discussing his need for help and never expected to be the focus of a fundraiser or to still be working at 80. But he stands by his decision to care for his wife at home.
"There is no way I'm a hero. I am not an angel, and I'm certainly not a saint. I made the promise to keep her at home and never put her in a nursing home because I took vows," Saling said.
Anyone who would like to contribute can do so via Venmo: @HelpGaryRetire and the code is 2956.
