Donald Coder

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.