William Gary High

Published May 22, 2026 - 11:20 a.m.

Smiling man wearing a dark baseball cap and black shirt in front of a beige wall. — Gary High

William Gary High, age 84, of Franklin, Tennessee died May 7, 2026. He was born in Millersburg, Ohio on December 24, 1941.

He was preceded in death by his son, Corey Alan High and his parents, Dr. Luther William High and Elizabeth Mae (Hummel) High.

He is survived by his wife, Jo Lynn (Wiggins) High; his daughter, Kristin Lynn Howell; grandchildren, Justin Howell, Evan Howell, Cannon High and Kennedy High; stepsons Colby Knight (Heidi), Josh Knight (Emma); stepgrandchildren Tucker Knight, Fern Knight, Reed Knight and Abel Knight.

His education included Millersburg High School, Duke University (BA) and Michigan State University (MBA).

He was a member of Christ United Methodist church in Franklin, Tennesse and active in the Prison Ministry; and a former member of Brentwood United Methodist Church in Brentwood, Tennesse. He was also a member of Lutheran churches in his hometown of Millersburg, Ohio and in other Lutheran churches in Rochester, Michigan and Carmel, Indiana.

He was extremely involved in sports including football, basketball and track in high school, and basketball and track at Duke University. He set the school record for the triple jump during his senior year at Duke. He also had a lifelong love of golf. He was inducted into the Holmes County (Ohio) Sports Hall of Fame in October, 1999.

Gary worked for General Motors from 1965 until his retirement in 2001. He worked in Human Resources, and help positions with Pontiac Motor Division, General Motors Corporate Human Resources, Detroit Diesel Allison Duncan, Indianapolis, Saturn Corporation and General Motors North American Operations. He retired as Director - Human Resource Development, Saturn Corporation and GMNA.

While in Michigan, he served as a volunteer probation officer and on the church council of his church. In Indianapolis, he served on his church council, participated in Partners in Education, servings as a guest instructor in Indianapolis High Schools and as the Finish Time Captain for the Indianapolis 500 Mini-Marathon.

He served on several advisory boards, including INTERCLASS (an international consortium of learning organizations), the Leonard Bernstein Center, and the Human Resource Advisory Council of the Central Intelligence Agency.

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