Gary Baran died on January 1st, 2024 from esophageal cancer at the age of 81. Gary was a stepfather to two children and has two children of his own. He also has 2 grandchildren.  Before his children were born, he and his wife spent 6 months traveling around the world.

Gary was born in Chicago, Illinois. During his formative years his family lived in veteran’s housing projects, meeting people from a wide variety of backgrounds - an experience which laid the foundation for his life-long interest in peace and social justice. After Senn, he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, California State University (where he earned a second master’s degree in Educational Psychology: Counseling and Guidance) and Los Angeles City College. While at LACC he was active in faculty associations, serving as Treasurer and then President of the Academic Senate. He helped organize collective bargaining for the faculty. Gary was a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified trainer of Nonviolent Communication.  After 27 years as a professor at LACC he became the executive director of the international Center for Nonviolent Communication.

In 2006 the family moved from Southern California to Eugene, Oregon, where Gary was active in the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association and other music groups, playing banjo, fiddle and occasionally guitar. He also offered training in Nonviolent Communication to a wide variety of groups, including inmates at the Oregon State Penitentiary where he volunteered for several years, and in the University of Oregon Substance Abuse and Prevention Program. He was on the board of the Oregon Network for Compassionate Communication.