Gareth Vance Kundert, Sr., age 74, passed peacefully into the Lord's blessed arms at his home, surrounded by his loving family on Feb. 2, 2011. He fought a courageous and inspiring battle against the sarcoma for 1-1/2 years.
He was born and raised in Wisconsin where he farmed before moving his family to Washington state in 1981. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Beverly; his daughter, Debbie; his 3 sons, Gary, Jr., Greg, Mark; 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
He was a hero to his children, whom he taught his work ethic, morals and Christian values. He taught by his actions, not just his words and showed us that helping others is why God put each of us on this earth.
His strength of character and honesty inspired each of us. Family and friends, his relationships with others, was valued over material objects. He loved his Lord and Savior and lived a Christian life.
Married for over 51 years, he loved to joke, "we're still waiting to see if it will work out." He was a farmer for over 30 years in Wisconsin and when he moved his family to Washington state in 1981 he was hired by PACO, where he worked for 27 years before retiring at the age of 72. In his spare time, he loved to garden. He collected farm toys, miniature steam engines and pedal tractors since 1989. He was a classic car lover, owned several, belonged to the Buick Club for over 10 years and enjoyed going to car shows and swap meets all year long. He volunteered at the LeMay annual car show for over 15 years and found his joy in lovingly cleaning and caring for the classic cars each year before the annual event held at the LeMay homestead and Marymount. For the past 20 years, he has participated in the Harrisburg H.S. $ for Scholars Farm & Construction Toy Show in Harrisburg, OR and the NW Farm & Construction Toy Show to benefit the Ebenezer Christian School held in Lynden, WA. He took his toy collection to display at each show every year and most years since 1989 he also took the Sauerman Drag Line salesman model that was entrusted into his care by his boss at PACO. He loved to see the joy on the faces of kids and adults alike as he operated the dragline at the toy shows. Doing the fundraiser at Harrisburg H.S. & Lynden's Ebenezer Christian School each year was a highlight for him and paid for a U-Haul trailer each year to haul the Sauerman to these fundraising events until about 4 years ago, when the family purchased a trailer to save on the twice annual cost of the rental truck.
Dad and Mom took a memorable "vacation of a lifetime" with dear friends for 10 days in 2005 on the Canadian Rocky Mountaineer railway. Dad loved to travel and one of his favorite sayings was, "It's not a vacation, it's an adventure." He also liked to say, "We're never lost, we just don't always know where we are." Spontaneous trips lead to adventures like the ones to Ephrata, WA & to Colockum Pass (in a Chevy Caprice, no less!) And we have fond memories (at least they are fond now ...) of a trip with 9 of us, including a 6-year-old and a 6-month-old grandsons, in a 15 passenger van, cross-country back to Wisconsin in 1993 ... by the time we returned home, most of us weren't on speaking terms for several months! We joke and laugh about it now, but we have all vowed that we will NEVER travel cross-county again unless we are in separate vehicles.
He survived quadruple bypass in 2004. He was diagnosed with high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma just before he retired in 2009. He fought a courageous battle against the cancer that took him from us and placed him into the hands of the Lord at on Feb. 2, 2011 at 7:48 a.m.
A memorial service will be held at the Sequoia Baptist Church, Kent, WA, on Feb. 26, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. There will be a potluck reception immediately following the memorial service. Please bring a dish to share.
Memorial donations will go to the Harrisburg $ for Scholars in Harrisburg, OR; Ebenezer Christian School in Lynden, WA; and the Star Lake Church of God Holiness.