John G. (Gary) Schonher
Oct. 3, 1935-Sept. 11, 2015
Los Altos, California

John G. (Gary) Schonher, 79, a local resident for 57 years, died of complications of a stroke on Sept. 11 in Mountain View.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Gary built a career as a financial planner, restaurant chain partner, investment advisor and commercial real estate broker. After attending Harvard as an undergraduate and Wharton Business School, in 1958 he moved back to California where he was born, raised and educated (Sacramento High School, 1953).

Gary was a pioneer real estate syndicator in California beginning in the late 1950s. He began a side business in restaurant ownership and operation in the late 1960s, starting with the Roundhouse in Santa Clara, the Crow's Nest in Santa Cruz and Shadowbrook in Capitola. Gary then helped to create a chain of steak houses (The Winery) initially in Palo Alto and expanding locally in Foster City and Oakland and on the east coast in Boston and Framingham, Massachusetts. In the early 1990s, Gary and his son Tom formed a boutique commercial real estate brokerage (LMT Investment Company) which specializes in the sales of single tenant NNN properties. Gary was active in this business into 2015.

Gary leaves his wife of 58 years, Nancy; children, Tom (Jennifer) of Los Altos, Mary Forsyth (Greg) of Truckee, and Leslie Stemen of Austin, Texas; his sister, Janet Santiestevan of La Canada; and his much-loved grandchildren, Erika, Jack and Matt Schonher and Haley and Liam Forsyth.

Tags: business