Gordon S. Palmquist

A Memorial Service for Gordon S. Palmquist of Warroad, MN will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 2:00PM at the Warroad Community Church in Warroad, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be held at a later date.

Gordon Stanley Palmquist was born January 27, 1931, in Minneapolis, MN, to Ole and Gladys (Aldrich) Palmquist. He attended school in Warroad and played on the very first two Warroad High School state hockey tournament teams in 1948 and 1949.

Gordy enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1950. He was attached to the 7th fleet and while stationed on the USS Badger, he served in the Korean conflict and earned the Naval Occupation (Asia) Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal w/3 stars, United Nation Medal, China Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.

He married Elda Bruce in 1951 in Roseau, MN, and they had four children; Sherry Palmquist, Jack (Bonnie) Palmquist, Mike (Linda) Palmquist and Cathy Palmquist, all of Warroad. Elda died in 1989. Gordy married Marlene Nygaard in 1990 in Roseau, MN. She had five children, Helena Foss, Joe Foss, LueAnn Bak, Jennifer Crabtree, and Bryan Nygaard. After Marlene died he married Clara “Diane” Robins in 2001. She has two children; Tina Varown and Steve Stabaken.

Gordy was very sociable and young at heart. He was always ready to strike up a conversation and loved to be around family and friends. He especially loved to tell stories and tease with the great-grandkids.  He loved hunting ducks, geese, pheasant and grouse.

He worked his early years at Heinen Mink Ranch and driving pulp truck. Later he owned and operated his own truck, hauling grain from Minnesota and North Dakota to Duluth and Superior. He drove truck for Marvin Windows and Doors from 1972 until his retirement in 1996. After he retired, he drove pulp truck for Tim Unruh until he was 82 years old.

Gordy was an avid fisherman and owned a Sport Craft launch and spent a lot of time at the cabin at Stoney Creek and at Flag Island. He moved to the Warroad Senior Living Center in 2016. There he cared much about the welfare of others. He could be seen zipping about the senior living center on his red electric scooter checking on folks and sitting with them when needed.

He had a fantastic summer this past year and never missed a single day driving his car from the living center out to Jack and Bonnie’s new house-building project. At 86 years old he would still drive to Greenbush to watch Jared Palm race his car.

Gordy died peacefully at LifeCare Medical Center in Roseau surrounded by family. He will be missed very much.

He is survived by his children, Sherry Palmquist, Jack (Bonnie) Palmquist, Mike (Linda) Palmquist, and Cathy Palmquist all of Warroad; ten grandchildren, Gordy, Tad, Blaine, Tammi, Tanya, Eric, Jana, Tom, Angie, Tim; 18 great-grandchildren; brother-in-law Wayne Fish of Webster, WI, sisters-in-law Helen Palmquist of Warroad and Dorothy Bruce of Bend, OR.

He was preceded in death by his father, Ole (Ollie) Palmquist and mother, Gladys (John “Porky”) Borgan; brother Donald Palmquist and sister Patricia Fish.

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