‘Gary made this a home’, City of Crete mourns the loss of beloved police chief

CRETE, Neb. (KLKN) – The city of Crete was business as usual on Thursday, but behind the walls of many city agencies in the area, people were grieving the loss of a man who knew almost everyone: Police Chief Gary Young.

After Chief Young’s sudden passing on Monday, Crete Mayor Dave Bauer decided to allow city employees uncounted time off for his funeral to say their goodbyes.

“He was very respected by the community for all of his involvement,” said Bauer.

“After 41 years of being in law enforcement in Crete, Nebraska, you learn a lot about the people. You learn about the town and Gary took that very, very serious.”

Bauer said that it was obvious to all who knew him, that Chief Young was a family man who modeled the role of chief after his own values.

“He understood family and the meaning of those relationships. One thing about our police department is they’re a very busy department and Gary had built those relationships up with surrounding communities through our sheriff’s department and the state patrol,” he said.

While Young was in the hospital right before his passing, Bauer appointed Captain Jon Pucket to be the current acting chief.

Pucket worked alongside Young since 2011 and shared many of the same morals.

He described to Channel 8 how the Crete Police Department is coping with the loss.

“It hurts you. Everybody’s in shock; just leaning on each other, and Gary taught us that,” said Pucket.

He also described a different side of Young that his colleagues got to see on a daily basis.

“He was unique,” said Pucket, adding that he had a reputation for getting things done with a simple, ‘Let’s go!’

“He was a philosopher, he was a music lover, he was a passionate man about so many different things and we can’t replicate that.”

Pucket says that Young would start the day by playing music from a portable speaker and begin department meetings with quotes from Marcus Aurelius.

Adding that there’s a lot of trauma that can come with this line of work and Gary took that into account, showing everyone just how deeply he cared.

“You’ll get all the life experiences. We have divorces. We have the same things as everybody else does and you just have it in your second house, which is here. And Gary, made this a home,” said Pucket.

The department is carrying Gary’s legacy by maintaining his priorities and helping take care of his beloved wife Linda, his children, and grandkids.

Despite the pain of his loss, Pucket says they will carry on.

Chief Young will be laid to rest in Lincoln on Aug. 3. Additional details can be found on the Crete Police Department’s Facebook page here.