Donald Voorhees

Donald Henry Voorhees, son of Henry and Ethel (Huston) Voorhees, was born April 23, 1919 in Swift County, Minnesota. He grew up and received his education south of Danvers. After his schooling, Don worked as a farm laborer for some of the local farmers. On May 2, 1940, he was united in marriage to Eunice Fragodt on the Gilbert Fragodt farm. The couple made their home in the Danvers area, where Don continued to work for area farmers. For a short time, Don was in San Franciso, CA, where he worked in the shipyards during WWII. After returning to Minnesota, he worked for a local telephone company setting poles, before taking a job as a mechanic at Esser Motors in Morris. After 25 years at Esser Motors, Don owned and operated the Morris Texaco and Morris Sinclair Service Stations until his retirement in 1983. Following his retirement, Don took up wood carving with help from Leonard Eich, where he went on to win numerous regional wood carving competitions. In addition to wood carving, he had a passion for flower gardening, and he and Eunice also enjoyed camping, fishing and visiting all the Minnesota State Parks. Don also loved to watch and listen to the Minnesota sports teams, especially his beloved Twins.



Don died on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at the Stevens Community Medical Center in Morris, having lived to reach the age of 87 years.



He is survived by his wife, Eunice Voorhees of Morris; five children: Darrel (Jane) Voorhees of New London, Deanna (John) Amundson of Westbrook, Dean (Kay) Voorhees of Oskaloosa, IA, Larry (Carol) Voorhees of Knoxville, TN, and Judi (Rick) Andreasen of Kensington; nine grandchildren: Darren (Laura) Voorhees, Johnathon (Tabatha) Amundson, Donald (Linda) Amundson, Amy (Eric) Hall, Leah (Bob) Jackson, Luke (Gina) Voorhees, Kim Voorhees, Lara (Neil) Schluter and Matthew DeLong; four great-grandchildren: Carter Amundson, Blake Amundson, Collin Schluter and Marie Voorhees and four brothers: Leonard (Margaret) Voorhees of Danvers; Delmar (Joan) Voorhees of Appleton, Jerry (Janet) Voorhees of Alexandria and Ward (Carol) Voorhees of Morris. He was preceded in death by his parents; one grandson: Louis Donald DeLong; one great-grandson: Bailey Jean Amundson; one sister: Pauline Voorhees and four brothers: Max, William, Richard and Norman Voorhees.



Pallbearers for the service will be all of Donald's Grandchildren. Deb Mahoney will serve as organist for the service, with Amy Hall serving as soloist. Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris is in charge of the arrangements.