Former Union County Commissioner Gary Sides dies at 68

WFAE | By Woody Cain

Published April 9, 2026 at 4:17 PM EDT

Former Union County Commissioner Gary Sides has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 68.

He resigned from the board last week. He had been sworn in as a county commissioner in December of 2024, after a decade of service on the Union County Board of Education.

County Manager Brian Matthews has ordered Union County flags to be flown at half-staff through the week in Sides' honor.

Sides and his wife, Myra, were former foster parents and have three adopted children.

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Woody Cain

Woody is a Charlotte native who came to WFAE from the world of NASCAR where he was host of NASCAR Today for MRN Radio as well as a pit reporter, turn announcer and host of the NASCAR Live pre race show for Cup Series races. Before that, he was a news anchor at WBT radio in Charlotte, a traffic reporter, editor of The Charlotte Observer’s University City Magazine, News/Sports Director at WEGO-AM in Concord and a Swiss Army knife in local cable television. His first job after graduating from Appalachian State University was news reporter at The Daily Independent in Kannapolis. Along the way he’s covered everything from murder trials and a national political convention to high school sports and minor league baseball.

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