Gordon Zibell

Funeral Service for Gordon Arthur Zibell, age 74, of Wheaton, Minnesota will be held Friday, July 19, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wheaton with Rev. Suzanne Benidt officiating. Organist will be Edelle Magnuson with special music provided by the Anderson Quartet and Dennis Johnson. Pallbearers will be Dale Spafford, Roger Schmidt, Dean Gallup, Lyle LeCuyer, Gary Anderson, Todd Schmitz, Larry Mesenbrink, Eddie Madsen, Bob Green, Gary Yost, Mark Pearson, Matthew Hormann, John Ekberg, Fred Schmidtke, Rod Westby and Jim Larsen. Honorary Pallbearers will be Gordon's grandchildren: Jessica Zibell-Porwoll, Geoff Zibell, Trent Zibell, Creed Zibell, Brook Zibell, Paige Zibell, Olivia Johnson, Nathan Johnson and Edward Johnson. Interment will be held in St. Joseph's Cemetery, rural Rosholt, South Dakota. Visitation will be held Thursday evening from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service at Ranney-Bainbridge Funeral Home in Wheaton. Visitation will continue Friday morning one hour prior to service time at the church. The Ranney-Bainbridge Funeral Home of Wheaton, Minnesota is in charge of arrangements. Gordon Arthur Zibell was born on March 30, 1939, in Graceville, Minnesota, the son of Herbert and Ethel (Brown) Zibell. Gordon was baptized and confirmed at Siloah Lutheran Church, rural Graceville, Minnesota, and graduated from Wheaton High School in 1957. As the son in his family, he followed in his father's footsteps of doing chores, farming, and working with animals, often helping out uncles, aunts, and neighbors on their farms. He loved to hunt wild game with bow and arrow, and also fondly told about purchasing his first gun and shooting his first deer. Gordon married Darlien Klock on September 2, 1961, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Wheaton. Their marriage was blessed with three beautiful children: Ronald Arthur, Connie Ann and Duane John. The couple purchased their own farm in Monson Township. In addition to farming and raising animals, Gordon worked several other jobs from time to time, including working and trucking at the turkey plant, Rosholt Meat Locker, and custom combining. His life revolved around his family and extended family. He and Darlien were busy parents and involved in their neighborhood and Wheaton area community as the children grew. Hunting with his sons and grandchildren gave him so much pleasure. Raising cattle and sheep, he was very protective of his animals at spring birthing time, so a Rosholt farmer friend encouraged him to purchase a donkey for the sheep pasture to ward off coyote attacks on newborns. Life changed when Gordon and Darlien divorced. His neighbors and friends became very protective of him and his well being. He always appreciated their helpfulness and invitations to meals in their homes and joining them for suppers at the Victor Supper Club. Among the things special for Gordon were sportsmen activities, the Rosholt Threshermen's Association, restoring antique tractors and farm machinery and his Augustana Church fellowship at White Rock, South Dakota. He also held dear his loving mother with her famous lunches including homemade cookies brought daily to the fields and his sisters Helen and Margie and their husbands Johnnie and Milton. He enjoyed watching his children grow into adulthood, marry, begin their own families and being "Grandpa Gordy." He was a Monson Township Commissioner for thirty-eight years, keeping good watch over the road conditions and needs of his area. Some years later through mutual friends, Gordon met Anne Dudek, a Breckenridge, Minnesota, school teacher. Their friendship blossomed into love and marriage. In spite of unexpected medical problems, Gordon and Anne enjoyed five wonderful years of marriage together living on the farm until his sudden death on Saturday, July 13, 2013. After more than two years of fighting cancer, his most recent medical scan at the University of Minnesota Hospital showed him to be cancer free. Having returned from the University, he and Anne were mowing their yard when he was called home to Heaven. Gordon was a devoted member of St. Joseph's Lutheran Congregation in rural Rosholt, South Dakota, after the Augustana Church was moved from White Rock. Gordon is survived by his sisters and their husbands: Helen and Johnnie Rose, and Margie and Milton Hormann of Wheaton; his beloved children and grandchildren : Ronald and Pamela Zibell and their children Jessica (Steve), Geoff (Heather), and Trent; Connie and Boyd Johnson and their children Olivia, Nathan, and Edward; and Duane and Shelly and their children Creed, Brook and Paige, many nieces and nephews, precious neighbors and friends; and his loving wife Anne. Gordon was preceded in death by his parents, Herbert and Ethel, an infant sister, grandson Evan Johnson, and his first wife Darlien. Our "gentle giant," who would say "just call me big hands," has passed onto the green pastures of Heaven. He will be greatly missed. Blessed be his memory.

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Visitation

Ranney-Bainbridge Funeral Home

• Thursday, July 18, 2013
• 04:00 PM - 08:00 PM
• Email Details
• 106 North 10th Street
  Wheaton, MN 56296

Directions

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Funeral Service

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

• Friday, July 19, 2013
• 11:00 AM
• Email Details
• 605 10th Street North
  Wheaton, MN 56296

Directions