March 28, 2024

Pearson lives life of service

NEWTON — On the 2011 Jasper County Freedom flight there was only one “red shirt” known as Bubba. At each monument he could be easily spotted: the big guy — then sporting a scruffy beard — with two DSLR cameras hanging from his neck, comforting his fellow servicemen or laying on the ground to get the perfect perspective of a wheel-chair bound WWII veteran with the Washington Monument in the background.

Bubba is also known as Gary Pearson. A former Maytag employee, former Skiff EMT/security guard, and current Worshipful Master at the Newton Masonic Lodge #59, Pearson wears many hats. In September he wore a headset as receptionist, helping his wife and nurse practitioner Melissa Pearson re-open Family First Medical Clinic in Baxter as their own. Whether he’s wearing his Shriner’s fez, photographer’s vest or Windstream polo while working IT, Bubba wears each style in his own way.

Pearson was born in Fort Dodge. But due to his dad’s career on the Chicago Western Railroad he traveled throughout the U.S. as a child living in Minneapolis and Wichita Falls but eventually settled in Newton.

Perhaps Bubba’s fondness for veterans comes from his own military service. He spent 13 years on the Army and Army National Guard from 1979-1991. While enlisted, Pearson was a liaison to Kuwait, Botswana and Taiwan, but his primary duty was in support of the 34th Military Police Battalion.

“I blow stuff up, just ask my boss,” he said. “So it makes sense to get in computers.”

Although he ended his Maytag career in IT, he began on the line in the porcelain department. but in the early 1990s, Pearson saw a posting for a corporate IT support position on the job board and decided to learn the computer trade.

Pearson bought his first camera in 1981. With his Canon 81E, Pearson captured images of military weaponry, but found pleasure in shooting “little blurbs” for the guys in his unit to send home to family. He now does shots for the Freedom Riders and donates his time to take portraits for military families free of charge. Pearson said the veteran has already paid him with their service.

As he gained reputation, Pearson said a young woman saw his work and asked him to shoot her modeling portfolio. This would later translate into opportunities with the outdoor clothing company L.L. Bean and eventually audition portfolios for the iconic men’s magazine “Playboy.”

“She asked, ‘Would you mind shooting my portfolio?’ I though, I could do that, no difference between a person and an M16,” he said.

While working as a Lotus Notes Domain administrator at Maytag, Pearson used to filter through emails, protecting the company from spam sent by companies masking as Hustler and Playboy. But unbeknownst to Pearson, Maytag had began some professional efficiency and administrative exchanges with the men’s entertainment company. Before he knew it, Pearson said, he was conference calling with Christie Hefner, daughter of the pop culture magnate Hugh Hefner. This allowed him to begin communications with the company for preliminary photography.

“I get a lot of crap from guys who ask ‘How can you shoot that? Doesn’t your wife get upset?’ But she’s in the medical field, so she’s seen it all,” Pearson said. “I’m more worried about where’s the light hitting, how can I make this person look the best?”

On his iPad, Pearson has a library of various shoots. He points to one model, emphasizing the lighting and perspective. The model, he said, was actually fully dressed for the shoot, but Pearson said it’s all about the illusion of nudity under carefully placed hands and props.

So how did Pearson earn the title of Bubba? It stems from his days at Maytag. Pearson had to learn multiple jobs while working in porcelain. He was hauling some material to be incinerated in the burn room during a 105 degree day. When he stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow, a foreman felt like it was time for Pearson’s break to be over.

“I was getting wore out, so I stopped next to an I-beam with this load, and I was talking to one of the guys,” he said. The foreman accused Pearson of “grab-assin” so he elevated the foreman off his boots and the supervisor then made his request more kindly.

“They called me upstairs to the office and said, ‘You know you could be fired?’ I said, ‘Why? I just wanted him to know that he had my full and undivided attention. I didn’t want to misconstrue anything he was going to tell me. My boss said, ‘You’re a Bubba,’ and dang that stuck.”