Gordon Maynard Skare was born in a small town in Saskatchewan, Province of Canada, in the little town of Rose Valley in 1931. Gordon's parents were American citizens and third generation Norwegian and had moved to Canada to homestead.

Due to the Great Depression, when Gordon was about four years old, his family moved back to the United States to Minnesota where his ancestors settled and where many of his extended family are there to this day. Both sides of Gordon's  family had many acres of land where they produced corn, hay, grain, and many of the necessary agricultural products that the country relied on.

As a child Gordon loved the land and he spent his summers working with his young nephews tilling the soil, planting, harvesting, and tending the cows and farm animals. When asked why he did it, he said because he loved it and because he was such a good worker, he earned a good wage which was saved for him, but the fun part was that he always had spending money for ice cream and soda when he went to town. Happily, he was not the poor farm boy of story books. After the summers were over Gordon would return to his family and his saved wages were used for new school clothes and bicycles.

While growing up on the farm, Gordon's familiarity with a shotgun was as some children are familiar with footballs, baseballs, and basketballs. This skill served him well from the 60's to the 90's, hunting pheasants in Glenn County CA. His faithful German Shorthair Pointer canine companions during those years were Red Dog, Thor, and Rusty Bart. Those dogs lived for the month of November hunting pheasants.

Gordon loved to tell many stories of his younger years, like the time he was not given permission to go to town with his dad and so he sneaked in the car and did not reveal himself until it was too late to take him back.  Another memory he loved to tell was when one day his father took him to see the automobile in which Bonnie and Clyde, famous bank robbers, met their fate.  Many years later when Gordon and his wife Sylvia were at a casino, that very car was on display and Gordon was amazed to be seeing it again.

At age 18, Gordon enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.  As the Air Force had just been established airmen had to wear brown Army uniforms with Air Force insignia until the Air Force produced the classic blue Air Force uniform.  At that time the Korean War was being fought and Gordon was trained and assigned to work as a Radio Repair Technician in Alaska at a time when the Air Force was losing men and aircraft from malfunctioning equipment.  When Gordon first arrived in Alaska, he casually met a commander in a restaurant and after talking with the commander, the commander asked Gordon if he would look at the malfunctioning equipment which Gordon agreed to do, and in one hour, Gordon was able to detect and repair the malfunctioning equipment. The Air Force would no longer lose aircraft and men from defective equipment and because of Gordon's expertise he was assigned as the top Radio Repair Technician and flew all over Alaska to posts throughout to work and keep the equipment functioning.

After Gordon left the Air Force he returned to Southern California where his parents had moved.  After some time, he joined an uncle farther down in Southern California and did some prospecting looking for gold or uranium.  At that time Hollywood had built some western movie sets in Pioneer Town where they filmed classic westerns with stars like Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.  Gordon was hired to help build the old west facades, and also worked at the bowling alley.  He once set the bowling pins manually for Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and the singing group Sons of the Pioneers.  After a short period, Gordon decided to start college and at that time some of his friends wanted Gordon to join them and go to Hollywood to get into the movie business, but Gordon declined because he had begun his college studies in conjunction with flying lessons with his best pal and nephew Roy Emberland.

After college, Gordon started to work in the defense industry as a Technical Writer and excelled in that field with his excellent technical background until his retirement.

In 1961 Gordon went to Work at Kirk Engineering in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he met his wife, Sylvia.  Gordon and Sylvia were married in 1962 and they had three children; Russell Gordon, Richard Gordon who passed away in 2010, and their daughter Sharon Diane.

Gordon was a tender and loving son, brother, husband, father, and uncle.

Gordon requested, upon his passing, that the following message be forwarded to all his loved ones and friends.

Forever …

For those I love.  When I am gone

be happy that we had so many

years.  You must not tie yourself

to me with tears.

I thank you for the love we each

have shared, and for the

happiness we endeared.

So grieve awhile for me

if you must.  Keep our memories

within your heart.

I won't be far away, for life

must go on, so if you need me

I'll be here.

Though you can't see me,

I'll be near. If you listen

with your heart,

you will hear.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the DeBerry Funeral Home located at 2025 W. University Dr., Denton, TX 76201.

Following the Celebration of Life Service for Gordon M. Skare the family will be having a reception at:

5:00 p.m., Saturday, December 17, 2022

American Legion Post 550

905 N. Foundation Dr.

Pilot Point, Texas 76258