A FEW GOOD MEMORIES OF "GORDY" GORDON PEDERSON BY A FRIEND by Eugene Faulds, Ivanhoe, MN.
-Gordon Pederson died at the end of January 2004 away from the town he loved. He was gone from the community for so long that few even knew of him, so I felt I could enlarge on the honor of this gentle man.
Gordy was born with a mental handicap. Public school tried and failed to do much to educate him. Two years or more in first grade did not help his condition. Social times were such that he was kept at home as opposed to the great programs of DACs today that provide training that can lead to productive lives. Gordy could have been one of those more productive ones had he been given
that chance.
My folks owned the bakery in town as well as a trucking business and the theater and Gordy spent a lot of time with us. My earliest memory of Gordy was in the 1930's when he helped me drag a 15 gallon open-top barrel of furnace coke into the bakery for the oven. He was always satisfied with his "pay". "Gene, isn't it time for us to have a doughnut?" he asked. My mother had to watch carefully so that Gordy and I didn't get "overpaid".
My brothers and I took Gordy with us from time to time when we hauled grain into town for the farmers in those years. Farmers did not have trucks or storage as they do toady and we spent much time shoveling grain from double wagons at the threshing machine to take for storage or to be sold at the local elevators. It was hard to tire Gordy out when he was shoveling with a #14 or #16 scoop. One had to be careful, tho, to see that most of the grain was getting into the truck as Gordy was a little "sloppy" with his shovel throw. My brother, Dale, once put Gordy behind the wheel of our smaller truck to give Gordy a treat while bringing a load of grain in from some farmer. These were real hard times and I am not saying that Gordy got any real pay for the work he did but we had a real good time together and I always got our "pay" from the counter of the bakery with those fresh donuts and rolls.
Gordy spent a number of years working for the local creamery. He and Don Fehrman had some good times together gathering cream cans from farmers and again Gordy's strength prevailed. In one of his earliest returns from Belle Plaine to visit Ivanhoe, he was a guest of honor at our house and he called Don Fehrman over from across the street to remind him of a day when they gathered cream from Pete Ostergaard's cream station in Arco and Gordy found a
bottle of wine in the water tank which cooled the standing cream cans while
Don completed the paper work for the purchase of the cream. He got a little
tipsy and Don, then remembering it, nearly collapsed from laughter. We were all amazed to think that Gordy could remember an incident over 50 years ago.
Gordy and his family belonged to our United Methodist Church and he was a faithful member - even after his mother died and he moved into the Divine Providence Rest Home in 1967. His mental condition not withstanding, gave him a faithfulness that many of us could use today. Once when I was working at my shop he walked from the Rest Home to remind me that a couple in church was having serious health problems and we should be praying for them. After many years of his faithful attending, one of our ministers decided that Gordy could take communion. This was an absolute high point in his life and he came to the kneeling rail and took communion. Such was Gordy. He was a resident in the local nursing home for almost 10 Years.
In 1976 Gordy moved from Ivanhoe to a number of assisted living homes in Minnesota and ended up in Belle Plaine which has a very fine facility. He had a care-giver, Sarah, that
brought Gordy to the Ivanhoe- Hendricks area one day every year to renew his contacts here. He always wanted to see or know about Lyle Wayland, Lloyd Whipple, W.J. Gropel, and Don Fehrman. These were special friends from the business community who treated Gordy as we all should be treated. He was here for one of our Polish Day Parades, and in 2002 he came to the 100th Anniversary of the Ivanhoe United Methodist Church.
Gordy enjoyed a number of activities that the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine provided through the years up to the time he became unable to participate because of the onset of Parkinson's Disease, but he looked forward to his yearly sojourn to Ivanhoe and Hendricks to be in the area he loved.
Rather than grieve his death, we celebrate a life that was much, much more than anyone expected it to be and we as a community and people are better off because he lived among us.
His favorite drink was Pepsi-Cola, so I say "Go Gordy, have a donut and a Pepsi" Rest in Peace.
-Gordon Pederson died at the end of January 2004 away from the town he loved. He was gone from the community for so long that few even knew of him, so I felt I could enlarge on the honor of this gentle man.
Gordy was born with a mental handicap. Public school tried and failed to do much to educate him. Two years or more in first grade did not help his condition. Social times were such that he was kept at home as opposed to the great programs of DACs today that provide training that can lead to productive lives. Gordy could have been one of those more productive ones had he been given
that chance.
My folks owned the bakery in town as well as a trucking business and the theater and Gordy spent a lot of time with us. My earliest memory of Gordy was in the 1930's when he helped me drag a 15 gallon open-top barrel of furnace coke into the bakery for the oven. He was always satisfied with his "pay". "Gene, isn't it time for us to have a doughnut?" he asked. My mother had to watch carefully so that Gordy and I didn't get "overpaid".
My brothers and I took Gordy with us from time to time when we hauled grain into town for the farmers in those years. Farmers did not have trucks or storage as they do toady and we spent much time shoveling grain from double wagons at the threshing machine to take for storage or to be sold at the local elevators. It was hard to tire Gordy out when he was shoveling with a #14 or #16 scoop. One had to be careful, tho, to see that most of the grain was getting into the truck as Gordy was a little "sloppy" with his shovel throw. My brother, Dale, once put Gordy behind the wheel of our smaller truck to give Gordy a treat while bringing a load of grain in from some farmer. These were real hard times and I am not saying that Gordy got any real pay for the work he did but we had a real good time together and I always got our "pay" from the counter of the bakery with those fresh donuts and rolls.
Gordy spent a number of years working for the local creamery. He and Don Fehrman had some good times together gathering cream cans from farmers and again Gordy's strength prevailed. In one of his earliest returns from Belle Plaine to visit Ivanhoe, he was a guest of honor at our house and he called Don Fehrman over from across the street to remind him of a day when they gathered cream from Pete Ostergaard's cream station in Arco and Gordy found a
bottle of wine in the water tank which cooled the standing cream cans while
Don completed the paper work for the purchase of the cream. He got a little
tipsy and Don, then remembering it, nearly collapsed from laughter. We were all amazed to think that Gordy could remember an incident over 50 years ago.
Gordy and his family belonged to our United Methodist Church and he was a faithful member - even after his mother died and he moved into the Divine Providence Rest Home in 1967. His mental condition not withstanding, gave him a faithfulness that many of us could use today. Once when I was working at my shop he walked from the Rest Home to remind me that a couple in church was having serious health problems and we should be praying for them. After many years of his faithful attending, one of our ministers decided that Gordy could take communion. This was an absolute high point in his life and he came to the kneeling rail and took communion. Such was Gordy. He was a resident in the local nursing home for almost 10 Years.
In 1976 Gordy moved from Ivanhoe to a number of assisted living homes in Minnesota and ended up in Belle Plaine which has a very fine facility. He had a care-giver, Sarah, that
brought Gordy to the Ivanhoe- Hendricks area one day every year to renew his contacts here. He always wanted to see or know about Lyle Wayland, Lloyd Whipple, W.J. Gropel, and Don Fehrman. These were special friends from the business community who treated Gordy as we all should be treated. He was here for one of our Polish Day Parades, and in 2002 he came to the 100th Anniversary of the Ivanhoe United Methodist Church.
Gordy enjoyed a number of activities that the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine provided through the years up to the time he became unable to participate because of the onset of Parkinson's Disease, but he looked forward to his yearly sojourn to Ivanhoe and Hendricks to be in the area he loved.
Rather than grieve his death, we celebrate a life that was much, much more than anyone expected it to be and we as a community and people are better off because he lived among us.
His favorite drink was Pepsi-Cola, so I say "Go Gordy, have a donut and a Pepsi" Rest in Peace.
A FEW GOOD MEMORIES OF "GORDY" GORDON PEDERSON BY A FRIEND by Eugene Faulds, Ivanhoe, MN.
-Gordon Pederson died at the end of January 2004 away from the town he loved. He was gone from the community for so long that few even knew of him, so I felt I could enlarge on the honor of this gentle man.
Gordy was born with a mental handicap. Public school tried and failed to do much to educate him. Two years or more in first grade did not help his condition. Social times were such that he was kept at home as opposed to the great programs of DACs today that provide training that can lead to productive lives. Gordy could have been one of those more productive ones had he been given
that chance.
My folks owned the bakery in town as well as a trucking business and the theater and Gordy spent a lot of time with us. My earliest memory of Gordy was in the 1930's when he helped me drag a 15 gallon open-top barrel of furnace coke into the bakery for the oven. He was always satisfied with his "pay". "Gene, isn't it time for us to have a doughnut?" he asked. My mother had to watch carefully so that Gordy and I didn't get "overpaid".
My brothers and I took Gordy with us from time to time when we hauled grain into town for the farmers in those years. Farmers did not have trucks or storage as they do toady and we spent much time shoveling grain from double wagons at the threshing machine to take for storage or to be sold at the local elevators. It was hard to tire Gordy out when he was shoveling with a #14 or #16 scoop. One had to be careful, tho, to see that most of the grain was getting into the truck as Gordy was a little "sloppy" with his shovel throw. My brother, Dale, once put Gordy behind the wheel of our smaller truck to give Gordy a treat while bringing a load of grain in from some farmer. These were real hard times and I am not saying that Gordy got any real pay for the work he did but we had a real good time together and I always got our "pay" from the counter of the bakery with those fresh donuts and rolls.
Gordy spent a number of years working for the local creamery. He and Don Fehrman had some good times together gathering cream cans from farmers and again Gordy's strength prevailed. In one of his earliest returns from Belle Plaine to visit Ivanhoe, he was a guest of honor at our house and he called Don Fehrman over from across the street to remind him of a day when they gathered cream from Pete Ostergaard's cream station in Arco and Gordy found a
bottle of wine in the water tank which cooled the standing cream cans while
Don completed the paper work for the purchase of the cream. He got a little
tipsy and Don, then remembering it, nearly collapsed from laughter. We were all amazed to think that Gordy could remember an incident over 50 years ago.
Gordy and his family belonged to our United Methodist Church and he was a faithful member - even after his mother died and he moved into the Divine Providence Rest Home in 1967. His mental condition not withstanding, gave him a faithfulness that many of us could use today. Once when I was working at my shop he walked from the Rest Home to remind me that a couple in church was having serious health problems and we should be praying for them. After many years of his faithful attending, one of our ministers decided that Gordy could take communion. This was an absolute high point in his life and he came to the kneeling rail and took communion. Such was Gordy. He was a resident in the local nursing home for almost 10 Years.
In 1976 Gordy moved from Ivanhoe to a number of assisted living homes in Minnesota and ended up in Belle Plaine which has a very fine facility. He had a care-giver, Sarah, that
brought Gordy to the Ivanhoe- Hendricks area one day every year to renew his contacts here. He always wanted to see or know about Lyle Wayland, Lloyd Whipple, W.J. Gropel, and Don Fehrman. These were special friends from the business community who treated Gordy as we all should be treated. He was here for one of our Polish Day Parades, and in 2002 he came to the 100th Anniversary of the Ivanhoe United Methodist Church.
Gordy enjoyed a number of activities that the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine provided through the years up to the time he became unable to participate because of the onset of Parkinson's Disease, but he looked forward to his yearly sojourn to Ivanhoe and Hendricks to be in the area he loved.
Rather than grieve his death, we celebrate a life that was much, much more than anyone expected it to be and we as a community and people are better off because he lived among us.
His favorite drink was Pepsi-Cola, so I say "Go Gordy, have a donut and a Pepsi" Rest in Peace.
-Gordon Pederson died at the end of January 2004 away from the town he loved. He was gone from the community for so long that few even knew of him, so I felt I could enlarge on the honor of this gentle man.
Gordy was born with a mental handicap. Public school tried and failed to do much to educate him. Two years or more in first grade did not help his condition. Social times were such that he was kept at home as opposed to the great programs of DACs today that provide training that can lead to productive lives. Gordy could have been one of those more productive ones had he been given
that chance.
My folks owned the bakery in town as well as a trucking business and the theater and Gordy spent a lot of time with us. My earliest memory of Gordy was in the 1930's when he helped me drag a 15 gallon open-top barrel of furnace coke into the bakery for the oven. He was always satisfied with his "pay". "Gene, isn't it time for us to have a doughnut?" he asked. My mother had to watch carefully so that Gordy and I didn't get "overpaid".
My brothers and I took Gordy with us from time to time when we hauled grain into town for the farmers in those years. Farmers did not have trucks or storage as they do toady and we spent much time shoveling grain from double wagons at the threshing machine to take for storage or to be sold at the local elevators. It was hard to tire Gordy out when he was shoveling with a #14 or #16 scoop. One had to be careful, tho, to see that most of the grain was getting into the truck as Gordy was a little "sloppy" with his shovel throw. My brother, Dale, once put Gordy behind the wheel of our smaller truck to give Gordy a treat while bringing a load of grain in from some farmer. These were real hard times and I am not saying that Gordy got any real pay for the work he did but we had a real good time together and I always got our "pay" from the counter of the bakery with those fresh donuts and rolls.
Gordy spent a number of years working for the local creamery. He and Don Fehrman had some good times together gathering cream cans from farmers and again Gordy's strength prevailed. In one of his earliest returns from Belle Plaine to visit Ivanhoe, he was a guest of honor at our house and he called Don Fehrman over from across the street to remind him of a day when they gathered cream from Pete Ostergaard's cream station in Arco and Gordy found a
bottle of wine in the water tank which cooled the standing cream cans while
Don completed the paper work for the purchase of the cream. He got a little
tipsy and Don, then remembering it, nearly collapsed from laughter. We were all amazed to think that Gordy could remember an incident over 50 years ago.
Gordy and his family belonged to our United Methodist Church and he was a faithful member - even after his mother died and he moved into the Divine Providence Rest Home in 1967. His mental condition not withstanding, gave him a faithfulness that many of us could use today. Once when I was working at my shop he walked from the Rest Home to remind me that a couple in church was having serious health problems and we should be praying for them. After many years of his faithful attending, one of our ministers decided that Gordy could take communion. This was an absolute high point in his life and he came to the kneeling rail and took communion. Such was Gordy. He was a resident in the local nursing home for almost 10 Years.
In 1976 Gordy moved from Ivanhoe to a number of assisted living homes in Minnesota and ended up in Belle Plaine which has a very fine facility. He had a care-giver, Sarah, that
brought Gordy to the Ivanhoe- Hendricks area one day every year to renew his contacts here. He always wanted to see or know about Lyle Wayland, Lloyd Whipple, W.J. Gropel, and Don Fehrman. These were special friends from the business community who treated Gordy as we all should be treated. He was here for one of our Polish Day Parades, and in 2002 he came to the 100th Anniversary of the Ivanhoe United Methodist Church.
Gordy enjoyed a number of activities that the Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine provided through the years up to the time he became unable to participate because of the onset of Parkinson's Disease, but he looked forward to his yearly sojourn to Ivanhoe and Hendricks to be in the area he loved.
Rather than grieve his death, we celebrate a life that was much, much more than anyone expected it to be and we as a community and people are better off because he lived among us.
His favorite drink was Pepsi-Cola, so I say "Go Gordy, have a donut and a Pepsi" Rest in Peace.
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