Donald Paul Gaulrapp

Donald Gaulrapp, age 100, of Wheaton, Minnesota passed away March 28, 2023 in Apache Junction, Arizona.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, July 1, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. at the Bainbridge Funeral Home in Wheaton, Minnesota with Fr. Stanley Wieser officiating.

Visitation will be held Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Bainbridge Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Chokio Lutheran Cemetery, Chokio, Minnesota. Military Rites will be provided by the Merton Dale American Legion Post #80. Following burial a lunch will be served at the Chokio Community Center.

Donald “Buddy” Paul Gaulrapp was born December 20, 1922, in Lake Valley Township, Traverse County, Wheaton, Minnesota on a farm. He was the son of Paul Francis and Leola Martha (Nelk) Gaulrapp, and he was the oldest of three children. He helped his dad and mother on the family farm.  He drove horses, and tractors, grew corn, wheat, and small crops, and raised livestock and poultry, and made repairs to equipment. He loved to ride his white pony (Nellie), and he frequently talked about riding to the Browns Valley Fair with friends. He would ride his pony to Country School every day. He only went to school up to the 8^th grade.

On December 28, 1944, he enlisted in the United States Army at Fort Snelling, MN, and served one year in the Philippine Liberation, World War II, until December 14, 1945. He was part of the medium tank crewman.  When he was attending boot camp at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a rattle snake crawled into his sleeping bag and bit him in the arm. He had an Honorable discharge from the United States Army earning a APTC Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, and WWII Victory Ribbon.

On February 23, 1951, he was united in marriage to Helen Charlotte Hawkenson at Vermillion, SD. Bud and Helen were married 59 years, living on a farm by Wheaton, where they raised their three children, David, Patsy, and Vicki. Bud was a farmer by Wheaton, and he worked side by side with Helen taking care of the farm, and their family. He enjoyed farming (checking his crops and watching them grow), camping, fishing, traveling, gardening, going to Arizona for the winter, visiting with friends, neighbors, relatives, and riding his 1946 and 1967 Harley Davidson Motorcycles until he was 90 years old. He would ride his motorcycle into town and have coffee, or lunch with his friends at the Rec. (some of the best food in town at that time). We knew he was happy when you heard him whistling, and that was most of the time, a memory many of the us remembered him by. Many of his grandchildren visited Helen and Bud in AZ, and they would take them to fun places like the Grand Canyon, Mexico, Disneyland, and SeaWorld.  He helped neighbors and nearby farmers with their farming. He liked going to the Legion and ordering a hamburger to eat, visiting with anyone that talked to him. He had lots of stories to tell everyone since he saw a lot of changes during his years of living. He drove semi-trucks hauling grain locally, and to Duluth, MN. He worked for Jacobson Transport driving truck in the fall, and he drove beet trucks for area farmers. He was a member of the Rosholt, SD, Threshing Association for many years. He loved his international tractors and red farm equipment. He really liked lots of chrome on his vehicles and was constantly washing and waxing them. 

He lived on his farm, mowed his own lawn, and drove his 2004 red GMC pickup until he passed away. He farmed till he was 92 years old.  Donald will be missed by his family and friends!

Donald passed away at the age of 100 at Apache Junction, AZ on March 28, 2023, resulting from a fall at his trailer.

Donald is survived by his son, David (partner Yvonne) Gaulrapp, two daughters, Patsy (Bill) Ascheman, Vicki (partner Tim) Behrens, sister and brother-in-law Virginia and Fred Schmidtke, two sisters-in-law, Delores Flaa and Pat Cordell. He is also survived by eight grandchildren: Chad, Derek, Shannon, Brent, Brandon, Kayla, Melissa, and Joshua; seventeen great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen (Hawkenson) Gaulrapp, his parents Paul and Leola Gaulrapp, one brother Virgil Gaulrapp, and many sister and brother-in-laws, and cousins.

So God Made a Farmer

On the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So, God made a farmer. God said, I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the Farm Bureau. So, God made a farmer. I need somebody with strong arms to wrestle a calf, yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry and have to wait until his wife is done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies come back soon. So, God made a farmer. God said, I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a new born colt and watch it die and then dry his eyes and say maybe next year. I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout and shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire. Who can make harness out of a hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. Whose planting time and harvest season will finish his 40 hour week by Tuesday noon. Then, with the pain from tractor back, he will put in another 72. So, God made a farmer. God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double-speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So, God made a farmer. God said, I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, and yet gentle enough to wean lambs and pigs and tend the pink combed pullets. And who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadowlark. So, God made a farmer. It had to be somebody who would plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard weeks work with a five mile drive to church. Somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing. Who would laugh, then sign and reply with smiling eyes... When his son says he wants to spend his life doing what Dad does! So, God made a farmer.