Slain Kansas City man is remembered for being the life of the party

As Gary Cutchlow drove around with a longtime friend Monday, he made a snap decision to visit his grandchildren and great-grandchildren on South Benton Street.

During the visit, Cutchlow, 60, laughed and joked with the children as they played outside. When it came time to leave, Cutchlow announced he wanted to speak to one more granddaughter first.

As Cutchlow ambled up the front porch steps about 6:30 p.m., a volley of bullets fired from a passing vehicle punctuated the cool spring air. Some sliced into Cutchlow and a second person.

Both were rushed to a hospital, where Cutchlow died.

On Thursday, others remembered him as a caring and loving boyfriend, parent and grandparent who often was the life of a party and enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

“He was good people and I will miss him,” said his daughter Chiquita Wash. “But I don’t feel this tragedy should have happened to him. I don’t know why this happened. He wasn’t feuding with anybody.”

The previous three weeks, Cutchlow and his longtime girlfriend, Sheila Johnney, had stayed inside their Kansas City home battling the flu.

Monday was the first day Cutchlow felt well enough to get out of the house, said Johnney, whom he had dated for 17 years.

Johnney encouraged Cutchlow to grab a jacket as he left.

“That (flu) might come back on you,” she recalled saying to him. “He put on a jacket, gave me a kiss and left.”

That was the last time she saw him alive, Johnney said.

“He took that bullet for them grandkids, and I consider him a hero,” she said. “He died doing what he did best, taking care of his grandkids.”

Investigators have not said whether Cutchlow or anyone else at the residence was the intended target. His death was the city’s 23rd homicide of the year.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Kan., he attended Wyandotte High School and later moved to Denver to help care for elderly relatives.

He returned to Kansas City and became a self-employed construction worker. Cutchlow also repaired vehicles, painted houses, built outdoor decks and did plumbing and other odd jobs. He loved to fish, barbecue, have fish fries and play dominoes.

“Gary done just about everything,” Johnney said. “He was known as someone who helped others.”

Recently, Cutchlow began making lifestyle changes. He started to attend church and quit smoking.

“He told me that he wanted to be the kind of man that I wanted to marry,” she said. “I wished we had gotten married, but we didn’t get there.”

Cutchlow is survived by eight children, 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at the Lawrence A. Jones Chapel in Kansas City, Kan.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Slain Kansas City man is remembered for being the life of the party."