Gordon Gross

Gordon Donald Gross, age 80, Turton, SD died in Jenkins Living Center at Watertown, SD Monday morning, November 5, 2018 following his battle with Parkinson's Disease. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 9, 2018 from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and will continue at the Church in Crocker after noon on Saturday. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 2PM in the Crocker Lutheran Church at Crocker with Minister Marion Grimes officiating.  Wendy Christman will provide special music.  The honorary casket-bearers will be his granddaughters-in-law and the great-grandchildren.  The active casketbearers will be the grandsons Alex, Adam, and Riley Reppe, Tyler, Terry, Brad, Tucker, and Hayden Gross.  Burial will follow in the Prairie Hill Cemetery at Bradley.  A luncheon will follow the burial at the Bradley Community Center at Bradley. Gordon was born on a farm near Crocker, SD on May 23, 1938.  Gordon was the youngest child of William J. and Tomina Palma (Holmes) Gross.  He attended school in Woodland Township and graduated from Conde High School in 1956. On June 4, 1961 he was united in marriage to Marcella Stern at the Crocker Lutheran Church.  The couple moved to Lead, SD where Gordon was employed at the Homestake Mine.  They returned to Crocker where he worked for Clinton Clark on his fur farm, he had many fond memories there.  The family then moved to Belvidere, IL where Gordon worked for Chrysler Motors until 1970. They returned to Crocker and their families where he was employed at the Bradley Elevator.

The next several years were spent living in the Crocker, Verdon and Conde areas where Gordon worked as a farmhand for local farmers. Gordon started working for the South Dakota State Highway Dept. in Doland in 1978.  Gordon and Marcella moved to a farm just outside of Turton, SD in December 1979.  Gordon was promoted to Superintendent of the Highway Dept. in Clark, SD, where he retired in 2000 at the age of 62.

Gordon was a true outdoorsman who had a deep passion for hunting, fishing and spending time with his family, many of those times chasing pheasants behind one his favorite short haired pointers.  Following retirement you could find Gordon tinkering around the farm as there were always things to fix, even with the wrong tool he could fix just about anything.  He also loved gardening and took great pride in his summer harvest. We could continue to list the things that Gordon enjoyed doing and the various ways he enjoyed spending his time but his true passion was absolutely his family.  He was never too busy to make a child smile, kids were drawn to him as he was the type to get down on the floor and interact with them at their level. He was there for ballgames, special events and family gatherings.  He thoroughly enjoyed taking them hunting, fishing and camping.  Seeing them grow and become successful made him beam with pride.

Grateful for having shared his life are his children Tammy (Dan) Reppe of Conde, Jeff (Linda) Gross of Watertown, Bill (Lori) Gross of Harrisburg: 8 grandsons and 12 great grandchildren.  Gordon also leaves behind sister-in-laws Lillian Gross and Dorey Gross of Clark and Joyce Gross of Crocker: his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law through marriage and a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Gordon is welcomed into heaven by his wife Marcella, parents William and Tomina, brothers Carl and wife Laura, LeRoy "Bud" and wife Wilma, Tom and wife Ruby, John, Elmer, Ray, Art, Henry and sister Adeline Loterbauer. Funeral arrangements are  with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com