Gordon Nordstrom

Gordon Nordstrom, 81,

Garrison, died peacefully

at his home on Tuesday,

April 3, 2018, after a long

battle with cancer. A

rosary and prayer service

will be held on Saturday

at 11:00 am. Services have

been moved to St. Nicho-

las Catholic Church in

Garrison. Burial will be at

a later date at the North

Dakota Veterans Cemetery

in Mandan.

Gordon was born to

Wester and Evangeline

(Levandowsky)

Nordstrom on October 11,

1936 in Sisseton, SD. He

attended grade school at

Immaculate Conception

Catholic School in Water-

town, SD. His family

moved to Clear Lake, SD

where he graduated from

high school in 1954. In

December of that year,

Gordon enlisted in the US

Army and was honorably

discharged in 1957. While

serving in the Army, Gor-

don married his high

school sweetheart, Joy

Reichling, in December of

1956.

In 1959, Gordon and

Joy opened “Gordon’s

Garage” in Clear Lake, SD

as an independent

mechanical repair shop.

In 1963, Gordon was

hired by Clear Lake Im-

plement, where he

worked until 1966, when

he began his teaching

career at Lake Area Voca-

tional Technical Center in

Watertown, SD. While

teaching at the school,

Gordon was instrumental

in the start of the Farm

Equipment Mechanics

Program. In 1969, he be-

gan his long career with

the John Deere Company

in Bloomington, MN

where he was assigned

the Bismarck, ND territo-

ry. During his work with

John Deere, Gordon and

Joy served the Garrison

area, where they relocated

in 1984. Gordon retired

from John Deere on De-

cember 31, 1994.

Gordon’s interests were

many. He enjoyed build-

ing, just about anything!

In his younger years he

loved driving race cars

and airplanes. Anything

that had involved an en-

gine had his total atten-

tion. One of his favorite

pastimes, which he called

“work,” was farming. He

also loved to garden.

Gordon’s true passion

was spending time with

his family in the outdoors.

They spent countless

weekends fishing, camp-

ing, and hunting, dogs in-

cluded of course! He en-

joyed taking Joy hunting

to many different states

for various types of an-

imals. A more important

priority began in 1982

with the arrival of

grandchildren, where Gor-

don was instrumental in

the modification of their

behavior practices!

Gordon is survived by:

the love of his life and

wife of 61 years, Joy,

Garrison; children, Ron

(Cheryl) Nordstrom,

Bismarck, Bobbi Jo Vig-

ness, Minot, Gary

Nordstrom, Riverdale; 8

grandchildren, Ryan, Ash-

ley, Colby, Carly, Nikki,

Brian, Brandon and

Nathan; 17

great-grandchildren; sis-

ter, Gail (Keith) Stros-

chein, Fl.;

brothers-in-law, Buddy

(Sally) Nunda, SD, Mike

Reichling, Clear Lake, SD;

and many nieces and

nephews.

He was preceded in

death by: his mother An-

gie, step-father, Lawrence,

mother-in-law, Mary,

father-in-law Alfred,

sister-in-law, Mary Louis,

and great-granddaughter,

Brielle.

In lieu of flowers the

family prefers memorials

to the Garrison Ambu-

lance Service or the

Garrison Fire Dept.

To sign the online regis-

ter go to www.garrison

thompson.com