Born Sept. 5, 1951 in Elrose, Saskatchewan.  He was raised on the Matador Ranch near Kyle, Saskatchewan, one of the largest ranches in Canada.  At it’s inception in 1905, the Matador Land and Cattle Company was six townships (140,000 acres) and was a part of the Matador holdings that stretched south to Texas.  In 1923 the lease was taken over by the Saskatchewan dept. of Agriculture to establish the first government supervised community pasture in western Canada.  John Rempel, Gary’s father, started riding on the Matador in 1943 and was appointed manager in 1962, and was there until his retirement in 1984.   Gary grew up on the back of a horse doing everything you do on                                                                                  a ranch. Cowboying was all that he ever wanted to do.

His father John worked occasionally as a pickup man for the late Jerry Meyers, of the Bar T Rodeo in Saskatchewan.  Gary competed in calf roping and team roping, but always wanted to pick up.  Gary got his opportunity when Jerry had 2 rodeos on the same weekend, so Gary’s official debut was in Hallonquist, Sask., working with Pete Aksomitis.  Mostly self-taught, Gary learned the finer points of picking up when he went to Calgary and worked with Wayne Vold.  Wayne taught him a lot about doing things right the first time, and how to turn turn horses back when they buck, to make them buck better and earn more points.

He worked his first amateur finals (The Canadian Cowboys Association) in 1984, and the following year (1985) he was asked to work at the Calgary Stampede.  He has been a pickup man at the Calgary Stampede every year since then, and was honored in 2009 for 25 consecutive years of service with a bronze and a presentation during the Stampede.

He has been selected by a vote of the Cowboys to work the Canadian Finals a record-setting 13 times:  ’86, ’87, ’99, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09 and 2010.  He surpassed the previous record of 11 times that was held by Wayne Vold.

At the 2009 Canadian Finals Rodeo, Gary was awarded the honor of “2009 Canadian Cowboy of the Year.”  This annual award is presented by Douglas Lake Ranch to the cowboy judged best in ability, sportsmanship, appearance, personality, and who has contributed most to the betterment of rodeo.  Gary received a $2,000 cash award and a bronze trophy by Ross Contway, as well as a leather bound bible from the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys.

He moved to the State of Montana in 1992 and has worked the Montana Circut Finals Rodeo a total of eight times:  ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, and ’07, ’08. He also worked the Columbia River Circuit Finals once.

He achieved his ultimate goal of being voted by the cowboys to pick up at the National Finals Rodeo for the first time in 1998 and has gone back in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2009.  He is only the second Canadian to work as a pickup man at the National Finals Rodeo.  The other was Wayne Vold.  He is now tied with Billy Ward and Kenny Clabaugh, both of Wyoming, for the most National Finals Rodeo Pickup Man selections. (7)

He has also worked the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo three times:  in 2003, 2005, and 2008 (in April of 2009).

Gary’s first Pendleton Roundup was in 1991, an opportunity that came about through the invitation from Pendleton for Calgary Stampede to bring their bucking horses to Pendleton.   Calgary hauled horses down for the first time in 1990, and after experiencing the unique arena, then rodeo manager Winston Bruce wanted a Calgary Stampede pickup man to be in the arena.  Gary has picked up at Pendleton every year since then, and has worked with other notable pickup men there with many credits to their names including Kenny Carpenter, Pat Beard, Lloyd Faria, Del Northcott, and Billy Ward.   Pendleton remains one of his all-time favorite rodeos.  He has also been the bull roper for the Pendleton PBR Classic since its inception.

He has been fortunate in that he’s remained relatively injury-free during his career; he broke his leg once in 1985 and once was drug by two horses with a lariat rope wrapped around his legs just below the knees during a freak hailstorm at a rodeo in Saskatchewan in 2000, just one day after the Calgary Stampede.His horses are very important to him, and Gary’s always been known to have some outstanding horses. He has had a few special ones, but the one “standout” would have to be Rainbow, a 21-year old red roan that has been his main pickup horse for the past 18 years.Gary and his wife Jody live on 140 acres in Fort Shaw, Montana. Jody works as an advertising representative for the local CBS Television affiliate in Great Falls, and is able to spend the summers traveling with Gary to rodeos. When he’s home, Gary works as a horse trainer. Gary has                                                                                      two children, Kevin (Kim) and Shelly (Sheldon), and two                                                                                      grandchildren, Samantha and Ryan.