In Memorium
Gary Mack
July 29, 1946 - July 15, 2015
Today The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza lost our very dear friend, highly esteemed colleague and
brilliant co-worker, Gary Mack, after a prolonged illness. Gary spent the last three decades as one of the
world’s premier resource specialists on the subject of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in
Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
Gary Mack received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Arizona State University in 1969,
after which he pursued a lengthy career in broadcasting in radio and TV. From 1964-1980 Gary worked
in radio broadcasting for a number of AM and FM stations as a disc jockey, music director and program
director in Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Wichita, and Dallas/Fort Worth. Gary moved to television
broadcasting and from 1981-1993 he worked at KXAS-TV (NBC) as an announcer, TV production/camera
operator, and news producer/co-producer. It was at this station that Gary was responsible for news film
archive oversight and organizing and preserving the original and comprehensive film footage/coverage
from the assassination week-end.
Before officially joining The Sixth Floor Museum as Archivist in 1994, Gary held an established reputation
as a subject matter expert and resource on Kennedy assassination history and details. Gary served as
one of several consultants in the planning stages and development of the original museum exhibit that
opened in February 1989, as “John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation”, on the sixth floor of the
former Texas School Book Depository Building (now The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza). He joined
The Sixth Floor’s regular staff in 1994, to oversee the early development and growth of the Museum’s
archival collections and was named Curator in 2000 – a role he served even through his recent illness.
His many curatorial responsibilities included identifying and acquiring artifacts, guiding the restoration
and preservation of the museum's collection of films, photographs, video and audio tapes, and
contributing his vast knowledge and subject matter expertise on the Kennedy assassination to all
Museum initiatives—including many temporary exhibitions, updates to the permanent exhibit, public
and educational programming, and several special productions.
Gary devoted almost all his professional work and a good portion of his personal time to assisting,
advising and consulting with researchers, filmmakers, and press/media from around the globe. He was a
Kennedy assassination advisor to ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox News, and CNN as well as for The Dallas
Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and several other news
organizations. He was also consultant for many documentaries including several Discovery, History and
National Geographic Channel historical programs, and was Senior Consultant for the first two parts of
the 1988 British television series The Men Who Killed Kennedy. In 1998 Gary co-produced the Emmy
award winning documentary JFK: The Dallas Tapes and in 2003 co-produced the award-winning PBS
documentary JFK: Breaking The News with local PBS affiliate, KERA.
Gary lent his wonderfully distinctive voice to the Museum’s main telephone line and the narration of
several museum-film projects, including Filming Kennedy in 2007 and the Dealey Plaza cell phone
walking tour in 2010. Aside from Gary serving as an invaluable research resource to press and

 researchers locally, nationally and internationally, Gary was a unique individual. No one knew this
complicated historic material better than Gary. It was through him and the many long-standing
relationships he built over the years that critical donations were secured that built the foundation of the
Museum’s collections. None of this could have been achieved without his rapt attention to detail and
constant sleuthing. Gary was always on the hunt for new material, new stories, new angles and
dimensions. Above all, Gary was generous. He was generous with his heart, his time, his knowledge and
was always willing to share and assist, explore his opinions, as appropriate, with those who expressed
interest in the same topics he was forever ruminating and questioning.
Because of his often laser-focus on the Kennedy assassination, those of us who worked with him were
sometimes surprised when he would share bits of his detailed knowledge on other subjects – like the
history of rock n’roll. In typical Gary fashion, he would usually connect it back to the Kennedy story in
some manner. Always quick with a pun, Gary, was without fail, a fascinating person to talk to, to laugh
with, and from whom there was always something new and different to learn. Life was never dull
around him.
Gary will be profoundly missed, but his spirit will live on at the Museum and in Dealey Plaza.
Please go to Memory@jfk.org to share your comments and memories of Gary Mack.
A special fund has been established in his honor at The Sixth Floor Museum. To make a donation, please
go to http://www.jfk.org/go/about/donate and indicate Gary Mack under tribute.
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