Gordon J. Everson

Born 4/23/1925 to Gordon Truman and Nolia Claire Everson in Menominee, MI. He was the eldest of 7 children; Bunny, Kenny, Don, Donna, Ray (Chum), and Jack.

He served in WWII and was part of the Normandy D-Day invasion. He was injured and received a purple heart for his service.

Upon his return, he worked as a nursing assistant at the VA Hospital in Iron Mountain, MI where he met the love of his life, Anita Strelick. She worked at the same hospital in the medical stenography pool. Their first date was at the bowling alley.

Gordon was encouraged to enter the nursing field and decided to enter and graduated from the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago, Ill.

He and Anita married 7/25/1953 in Iron Mountain, MI. They lived in Chicago and Waukegan for a time before moving to Las Animas in 1960. They raised their family there and remained in Las Animas until July, 2012 when they moved to Colorado Springs.

Gordon died on 12/19 after a lengthy battle with various illnesses and disabilities. He is survived by Anita, his wife of 62 years, along with his 5 children, Mary Ann, Gordon, Eric, Wanda and Lola. He is also survived by and very proud of his 11 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Gordon was a life long sports fan and a Green Bay Packer fanatic. Go Pack Go!

We will miss you dad but know that you are in a better place and free from the long years of pain and suffering. You were our rock, our leader and our north star.

From:

Mary Ann - You were the foundation for all I am. Hours of baseball/football practice with me in the back yard, and the many years of watching football with you gave me my love of sports; music always playing in the house instilled in me my love of music. More importantly, you taught me discipline, responsibility loyalty, and character. They may not have been appreciated as a child, but they are invaluable to me as an adult. You have been, and always will be my hero. I love you and wish you much success converting everyone up there to Packer fans. Keep watch over us. I feel you with us.

Chip - For our purposes, we mourn his passing, trying to grapple with the human conditions of pain and suffering. Lord, bless our family at this time with your peace, love, and understanding. Our daddy has left us in life.....now new life.....Lord hold him in your arms and understand our earthly need to say one more time, "Daddy, we love you."

Eric - Dad...to my "gentle giant" who showed me first hand to be a good person, good husband, and a good father. The loves of your life in not so certain order, were many: your wife, children, country, faith, and Packers. I am so grateful that all my children and grandchildren were able to meet you so they too can remember what a great man you were. Daddy, no more pain...no more suffering. Till we meet again and run in the "field of dreams" together. Love always.

Wanda - I'm so sorry for what you went through towards the end and any pain you experienced. Now you are free of all of that. I am so grateful for the life you worked so hard for and how it has richly blessed my life. I look forward to seeing you again......till then I will hold on to the many memories you gave our family. I love you.

Lola - Dear Pops: The last few years have been so tough for you. Perhaps the hardest was moving from our home in Las Animas to Colorado Springs. Ironically, it was the biggest blessing for me, Jim, and Alyssa. The time we've had with you is priceless. Alyssa is so blessed to have had sleepovers with you and mom! Thank you for your strength and perseverance. You will always be my big, strong daddy.

I will carry with me memories of laughter, kidding around, dancing to YMCA in the living room, games in the back yard, Princess and Mack, those amazing camping trips to Monarch and Michigan, supporting me through computer programming in college, our walks on the highway. But most of all, dad, was your love of family and God.

I'm missing you so much already. I can't believe you won't be sitting in your favorite chair and that I can't just pop over to see you. I'm missing you in your silly Christmas hat this year, the one that blinks "Ho, Ho, Ho". I'm actually missing everything about you, except one thing-all the pain you've been through, especially this last month. For that alone, I can let you go. God be with you and we'll see you when we see you. I can hear you saying, "Hang in there, baby".

We love you and we promise to take care of mom. Lola, Jim and Alyssa.

MOM - Gordon, my love: During our 62 years of married life together, we persevered to the end in our Catholic faith. You were invested in the Brown Scapular of our Lady of Fatima, received the Annointing of the Sick at numerous times, and you are now made safe from all distress. I pray that on our way to everlasting happiness in Heaven, that our stops in purgatory will be shortened because of God's divine mercy. It is true, I prayed that you would be home with family and me for one more Christmas, but evidence pointed to the Loving Father who wanted you home even more; and so be it.

May our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren's love for the birth of the Christ Child fill the whole world.

In lieu of flowers the family as requested that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 75817, Topeka, KS 66675 or online at woundedwarriorproject.org