Gordon “Gordie” Walters, age 87 of Prior Lake, formerly of Burnsville and Montgomery, passed away on Saturday, October 28, 2017. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 11AM with a visitation 1-hour prior, all at Ballard-Sunder Funeral Home, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake. Gordie will be laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Pastor Robert Krueger will preside.
Gordie was born February 6, 1930 in Alfa, MN; the 4th of 7 children (5 boys 2 girls) to Fred and Francis Walters. Gordie worked on the farm with his family and also worked on other area farms as well. He enjoyed the farm work and balanced hard farm work and school studies through high school. For a couple of years after high school, he worked a number of odd jobs until he enlisted in the Navy in 1950, the beginning of the Korean War.
He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1954 and three days after his discharge he met the love of his life, Margaret Bakken. Two and a half months later on October 2nd 1954 they were married in Sherburne, MN, a marriage that has lasted for 63 years, to death do us part.
After a short stint in California, the two returned to Minnesota where he started working with his older brothers in the construction business. This working relationship with his bothers is something that lasted his entire working life. Gordie built his first home for the family in Bloomington in 1958, the second in Burnsville in 1964, where he and Margaret raised their 3 children, Sandra, Michelle, & Scott. In 1993, after finding a lake lot in Montgomery, MN, Gordie built his last home and gained a whole new set of friends. In 2012 they moved to a townhouse in Prior Lake, again, making new and caring friends.
Gordie and Margaret enjoyed traveling; Spain, Greece and Mexico being a few of their destinations.
Gordie is a 6x cancer survivor. In 2007, he had his first cancer scare, a soft tissue sarcoma attached to the liver and stomach; this resulted in 90% of his stomach being removed and a slice of his liver. In addition to this he’s had 2 lung cancers, liver, kidney, and skin cancer. Gordie wasn’t a cancer survivor he was a cancer conqueror. His last check-up (9 days before his passing) showed that his lung and liver cancers had stopped growing while being off all cancer treatments for the past 7 months. With all of these battles spanning 10 years, he never once complained, felt sorry for himself, or lost his sense of humor.
Gordie & Margaret loved when their grandchildren would visit. Whether it be lawnmower or pontoon rides on Pepin Lake, Gordie and Margaret loved to entertain their grandchildren.
This year, Gordie and his son, as chaperone, were grateful to be part of the “Honor Flight”. This is an exhausting 19-hour round trip for the veterans of WWII and the Korean War to see the war memorials in Washington, DC. Gordie along with 50+ other vets were treated like royalty from the moment they arrived at the airport to the time they got home. This was an experience that he cherished as one of the highlights of his life.
The last few years of his life Gordie found himself as the primary care giver to the love of his life. While battling his own numerous health issues that sometimes put him in the hospital for days or weeks, he never delegated his care giving responsibilities to others preferring to do them himself with kindness, gentleness, patience and love. The void felt by the ones who loved him will never be filled and shouldn’t be. However, his example of love to others is an example for all to emulate.
Gordie is survived by wife, Margaret of 63 years; children, Sandra (Dale) DeGross, Michelle (Patrick) Allen, Scott (Ann) Walters; grandchildren, Adam DeGross, Cheryl Teal, Kristal Kempenich, Amiee Teal, Chardonea Allen, Zachary Walters, Ethan Walters; 10 great-grandchildren; siblings, Ardythe Schwager, Jerry (Diane) Walters, Audrey (Jack) Blaschko; sister-in-law, Katy Walters; many relatives and friends.
Gordie is greeted in Heaven by his parents; Fred and Frances; brothers, Harold Walters, Marvin (June) Walters, Kenneth Walters; brother-in-law, Roger Schwager.
Funeral arrangements by Ballard-sunder Funeral & Cremation, Prior Lake, MN
