Celebration of life will be held at 2:00PM on Friday September 1, 2023 at Morden Mennonite Church. Private interment will take place prior to the service at the Southside Cemetery. Cremation has taken place with no public viewing.
Gordon Earl Letkeman
1958 ~ 2023
It is with profound sadness that the family of Gord Letkeman, of Morden, MB, shares of his passing on August 28, 2023. He left this earth peacefully and surrounded by family at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, following a cancer diagnosis in May 2023. Born on June 4, 1958 in the Morden area to Jake and Alma Letkeman, Gord spent his early childhood years on the farm with his dog Blackie. After moving into town, Gord spent his teen years playing hardball, curling, and gallivanting around town with friends. When Gord turned 17 he turned his sights toward Loretta, and they were married on September 11, 1977. They moved to Winnipeg, where Gord received a Diploma of Agriculture. After two years, they returned to Morden where he started his career at Manitoba Pool Elevators. He was in the grain buying business for 28 years, and enjoyed building relationships with the farming community. During those years their family grew, outnumbered with three daughters (and their growing families), who he absolutely adored. Gord was diagnosed and overcame prostate cancer in 2008, and following this victory, he decided on a change in career. This led to him working in the non-profit sector as the Material Resource Coordinator at the Mennonite Central Committee warehouse in Plum Coulee, MB. Gord relished the opportunity to work with staff and volunteers to collect and prepare relief supplies to ship to partners across the globe—people whose lives had been disrupted by war or disaster. He was unbelievably fulfilled by this work, and the staff and volunteers provided him with purpose, meaning, and joy.
Gord was a man of many talents, gifts, and passions. He was equally adept at puttering around in his garage or sitting in the sun and relaxing. He loved biking and camping with Loretta, his daughters, and his grandkids. Gord coached all three daughters in fastball for numerous years, occasionally all the way to provincials. Gord enjoyed canoeing and sunset walks with Loretta. He also had an adventurous side, from visiting his daughter in Thailand to taking trips with MCC to Haiti and Jordan. Gord’s personal passion was gardening in his back yard. It was his true therapy: Gord would carefully prepare small seedlings every spring, and continue to nurture those plants into abundance through summer and into fall. It was absolutely prolific and delicious, and resulted in nourished bellies and stocked pantries. Though a man of few words, he developed many meaningful relationships wherever he went, and was involved in many different areas of the community: he was a friendly and welcoming face; a caretaker at Southside Cemetery; an usher in church; a maker of borscht for church functions; was “security” at a local store in the busy season; and was close friends with all the pals with whom he played slow pitch and curled every year. Nothing gave Gord more joy than his children and grandchildren. Summers were filled with playing catch, constructing water obstacles in the backyard, building life-sized alligators in the sand, and barbecuing delicious dinners. Winters involved making snow forts, snow people and skating rinks in the backyard, which got bigger and more robust every year. Gord was patient, steady, strong, compassionate, thoughtful, caring, generous, and accepting of everyone. He was truly a gift to everyone he encountered. Cherishing his memory are his wife Loretta, daughters Janaya (Bob) Letkeman, Kristy (Jason) Letkeman Hosler, Kaylee (Bobby) Meakin, grandchildren Magnolia, Ivan, Eli, Grady, Cooper, and Theo, his mother Alma Letkeman, his two sisters and their families, his mother-in-law Susan Hamm, brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their families. Family who went before are his father, Jake Letkeman, his father-in-law, Otto Hamm, and his brother[1]in-law, Ken Petkau. It is with much gratitude that we wish to thank the many health care providers who cared for Gord in these past months. They worked tirelessly and with much compassion and care, and we are grateful for their commitment to Gord and our family.
A public funeral service will be held at Morden Mennonite Church at 2:00pm on Friday September 1, 2023. A private burial for family will take place at Southside Cemetery prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mennonite Central Committee.
Gordon Earl Letkeman
1958 ~ 2023
It is with profound sadness that the family of Gord Letkeman, of Morden, MB, shares of his passing on August 28, 2023. He left this earth peacefully and surrounded by family at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, following a cancer diagnosis in May 2023. Born on June 4, 1958 in the Morden area to Jake and Alma Letkeman, Gord spent his early childhood years on the farm with his dog Blackie. After moving into town, Gord spent his teen years playing hardball, curling, and gallivanting around town with friends. When Gord turned 17 he turned his sights toward Loretta, and they were married on September 11, 1977. They moved to Winnipeg, where Gord received a Diploma of Agriculture. After two years, they returned to Morden where he started his career at Manitoba Pool Elevators. He was in the grain buying business for 28 years, and enjoyed building relationships with the farming community. During those years their family grew, outnumbered with three daughters (and their growing families), who he absolutely adored. Gord was diagnosed and overcame prostate cancer in 2008, and following this victory, he decided on a change in career. This led to him working in the non-profit sector as the Material Resource Coordinator at the Mennonite Central Committee warehouse in Plum Coulee, MB. Gord relished the opportunity to work with staff and volunteers to collect and prepare relief supplies to ship to partners across the globe—people whose lives had been disrupted by war or disaster. He was unbelievably fulfilled by this work, and the staff and volunteers provided him with purpose, meaning, and joy.
Gord was a man of many talents, gifts, and passions. He was equally adept at puttering around in his garage or sitting in the sun and relaxing. He loved biking and camping with Loretta, his daughters, and his grandkids. Gord coached all three daughters in fastball for numerous years, occasionally all the way to provincials. Gord enjoyed canoeing and sunset walks with Loretta. He also had an adventurous side, from visiting his daughter in Thailand to taking trips with MCC to Haiti and Jordan. Gord’s personal passion was gardening in his back yard. It was his true therapy: Gord would carefully prepare small seedlings every spring, and continue to nurture those plants into abundance through summer and into fall. It was absolutely prolific and delicious, and resulted in nourished bellies and stocked pantries. Though a man of few words, he developed many meaningful relationships wherever he went, and was involved in many different areas of the community: he was a friendly and welcoming face; a caretaker at Southside Cemetery; an usher in church; a maker of borscht for church functions; was “security” at a local store in the busy season; and was close friends with all the pals with whom he played slow pitch and curled every year. Nothing gave Gord more joy than his children and grandchildren. Summers were filled with playing catch, constructing water obstacles in the backyard, building life-sized alligators in the sand, and barbecuing delicious dinners. Winters involved making snow forts, snow people and skating rinks in the backyard, which got bigger and more robust every year. Gord was patient, steady, strong, compassionate, thoughtful, caring, generous, and accepting of everyone. He was truly a gift to everyone he encountered. Cherishing his memory are his wife Loretta, daughters Janaya (Bob) Letkeman, Kristy (Jason) Letkeman Hosler, Kaylee (Bobby) Meakin, grandchildren Magnolia, Ivan, Eli, Grady, Cooper, and Theo, his mother Alma Letkeman, his two sisters and their families, his mother-in-law Susan Hamm, brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their families. Family who went before are his father, Jake Letkeman, his father-in-law, Otto Hamm, and his brother[1]in-law, Ken Petkau. It is with much gratitude that we wish to thank the many health care providers who cared for Gord in these past months. They worked tirelessly and with much compassion and care, and we are grateful for their commitment to Gord and our family.
A public funeral service will be held at Morden Mennonite Church at 2:00pm on Friday September 1, 2023. A private burial for family will take place at Southside Cemetery prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mennonite Central Committee.