VIRGIL — Gordon Lee Samelson, 72, of Virgil, passed away peacefully with his brother and best worldly friend, Linn, by his side, Friday, October 26, 2018, at Avera Weskota Memorial Medical Center in Wessington Springs.
His funeral service will be 2:30 p.m., Saturday, November 3, at Welter Funeral Home followed by burial in Maplewood Cemetery at Iroquois. Visitation with the family present, will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Welter Funeral Home in Huron or visitation one hour prior to the service.
Gordon Lee Samelson was born August 6, 1946, in Iroquois to Virgil and Mary (Writner) Samelson. Gordon attended school at Plainview Academy in Redfield, where he graduated in 1964. After graduation, Gordy headed for the bright lights of Detroit City where he worked for Ford Motor Company for a short time. He then briefly drove truck in Iowa before traveling to California and then onto Las Vegas where he was employed in the sheetrock trade for many years. There, he married his longtime high school friend Bonnie Shepherd.
After tiring of the construction trade in 1975, Gordy returned to South Dakota where he put down his roots and returned to his favorite trade; over the road trucking. After driving trucks for various companies, Gordy bought his own tractor/trailer and established “Charity Wagon Trucking.” Making his deliveries on time was of the utmost importance to Gordy; his specialty was hauling boxed meat to California and returning to the Midwest with fresh California produce. If you met a reefer between South Dakota and the coast of California with a lighted blue cross on the reefer, chances are it was Gordy with no grass growing underneath.
Gordy enjoyed pheasant hunting, fishing, music, fast trucks (really fast trucks), and classic cars. Gordy also enjoyed poetry; especially writing it. Ultimately, the most important thing to Gordy was doing his best to glorify the name of his maker! Sometimes Gordy was a little rough around the edges, but everyone knew he had a heart the size of Texas and it traveled with him through 48 states, covering over six million miles, until his heart took its last beat on Friday, October 26th. In our daily travels, we’ll keep looking on the highways and interstates and just maybe someday, we’ll spot that blue cross coming over that next hill.
Gordon is survived by two sons, Jamie Samelson of Pierre, and Troy Samelson of Huron; one daughter, Michelle Cook-Profeta of Aberdeen; two brothers, Linn (Sandy) Samelson, and Virgene (Theresa) Samelson all of Redfield; two nieces, Tracy Samelson of Redfield, and Corrina Samelson of Herreid; and one nephew, Cody Samelson of Aberdeen.
Gordy was preceded in death by his father, Virgil in 2002; his mother, Mary in 2009; one brother, Lawrie in 1995; one sister, Pamela in 1953; his grandmother, Grace Samelson in 1993; and grandfather, Clarence Samelson in 1994.
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