In the upscale mansions of Laguna Beach, Gary Saling’s name once carried the weight of luxury and prestige. The retired architect was listed in Architectural Digest’s top 100 and built multimillion-dollar homes for elite clients, including Jefferies Investment Group founder Boyd Jefferies.
Today, at 80, ex-architect Saling clocks in four days a week at Smith’s Market in St. George, Utah.
It is not to supplement a pension or escape boredom but to bag groceries and chip away at the $80,000 in medical bills incurred during his late wife’s care. Saling’s story is one of heartbreaking devotion.
After his wife Carol was diagnosed with two forms of dementia, including the aggressive progressive supranuclear palsy, he vowed she’d never see the inside of a nursing home. “I promised myself, God, her, her brother, her son and daughter, (her stepsons), I promised them I would not put her in a nursing home (…) I kept it,” Saling told the New York Post.
That vow and the choice to honor it until her last breath in 2021 cost him his savings. But not his dignity.
Now, thanks to a viral Fox 13 segment and the kindness of strangers, nearly $40,000 has been raised to help him retire with grace. “I’m overloaded with gratitude,” Saling said. “People have called me a hero, but I just kept a promise.”
How Did Ex-Architect Gary Saling Fall from Wealth?
Before bagging groceries, Saling bagged billion-dollar deals and stunning ocean-view homes. A California native, he got his work ethic from his single mother: a head waitress at Beverly Hills’ Victor Hugo restaurant. As a teen, he juggled three jobs, including bagging and delivering groceries for none other than Bette Davis.
That tireless drive carried him through a storied career in architecture, designing custom mansions with dazzling features, like a three-story coastal home with a glass floor for Boyd Jefferies. However, when Carol fell ill in 2017, their golden years shifted into survival mode. Medicare covered neurology visits, but not the daily at-home care he promised to provide.
Duana Johnson started a fundraiser for Gary Saling and the community has been stepping in to help.
— FOX29WFLX (@FOX29WFLX) June 3, 2025
By the time Carol passed in June 2020, Saling was financially drained. But emotionally resolute.
“I took care of her at home from the day she was diagnosed ’til I held her in my arms when she took her last breath,” he told The Post. “It was because I took vows, it’s as simple as that.”
His choice to return to grocery work wasn’t nostalgia but necessity. Mentally exhausted from years of caregiving, he didn’t expect new friendships or the empathy that would ripple through his community.
Fundraiser Nears the Finish Line to Help Gary Retire
Duana Johnson, a local ministry leader, met Saling while he bagged her groceries and instantly knew something was off. “Why is this elderly man still working so hard?” she wondered. Upon learning about his backstory, she launched a donation drive via the State Bank of Southern Utah and Venmo (@HelpGaryRetire).
What started slowly snowballed after Fox 13’s coverage. And donors flooded in.
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“It’s awesome to see,” Johnson said.
“There’s a lot of compassion and love in our country that a lot of people are speaking against.” Many contributors resonated with Gary’s steadfast love and integrity. “Gary told me that Carol was very faithful, she loved the Lord,” Johnson added. “Her prayers for him as she was leaving this Earth are being answered.”
Despite his aversion to attention, Saling finally lets go of guilt and allows others to carry his burden. “I’m certainly not a saint,” he insists. “[I] made the promise (…) because I took vows.” He hopes to retire by the end of June.
Gary Saling’s commitment has become a symbol in a world where convenience and cost often overshadow long-term love.
