Donald Coder
July 25, 1938-March 4, 2020
Donald Richard Coder,
81, passed away on
Wednesday, March 4,
2020 at Oak Crossing
Nursing Home under the
care of Hospice of the Red
River Valley and sur-
rounded by his family.
Donald Richard Coder
was born July 25, 1938,
the second of identical
twins to Norris and Alpha
(Hansen) Coder. Donald
grew up and graduated
with honors from Minot
High in Minot, North
Dakota. In 1957, Donald
attended Air Force base
training in California for
Radar Maintenance and
one year in Biloxi, Missis-sippi. Donald was as-
signed to Latuda, Canada
to maintain radar and
then went on to finish his
time in the Air Force sta-
tioned in Panama City,
Florida. He married Kath-
leen King in May of 1958.
Donald furthered his edu-
cation and graduated from
Minot State University
with a degree in Engineer-ing. He was hired by Bell
Telephone in Fargo in
June 1964 where he held
many engineering jobs
until his retirement in
1993. During this time, he
completed his schooling
at Illinois Institute of
Technology where he
earned his master’s de-
gree. Math and engineer-
ing were always impor-
tant to Donald and he
worked to instill that love
of engineering into his
children.
Fishing with his best
friend and wife Kathy
(Chummy) since they
were in high school, was
one of his favorite things
to do. He fished three
times with Bass Masters
as an amateur but most
importantly he started
(with the fishing club) 15
years of the Phil Coder
Memorial Bass Tourna-
ment in Lake Lizzie in
memory of their son Phil
who died from Cystic Fi-
brosis in 1981.
Donald had a kidney di-
alysis for 2 years and tran-
splant in 2008 at Sanford
Hospital in Fargo, ND.
The family would like to
thank Dr, Chemiti and the
staff for years of care that
allowed him the extra
years with his family.
Donald and his wife
Kathy spent 17 winters in
Laughlin, Nevada until
his health started to de-
cline in May 2019.
Deeply loved, Donald’s
passing will be mourned
by: his wife of 60 years
Kathy; his children Ted
Coder, Roberta (Jack) Ben-
son, Richard (Linda)
Coder; his 3 grandchil-
dren, and his siblings
Pam, Joyce, and Larry.
Preceded in death by:
his parents, two sons Ken-
neth and Philip, his ident-
ical twin brother Ron, his
brother Norris “Butch”
and sister Beverly.
Visitation was on Tues-
day, March 10, at
David-Donehower Funeral
Home in Detroit Lakes.
Arrangements were in
the care of
David-Donehower Funeral
Home and Cremation Ser-
vice of Detroit Lakes.
The family would like
to thank the staff from the
Hospice of the Red River
Valley for all the care they
provided Donald.
Donald’s family appreciat-ed the care that Hospice
provided.