Gerald Roger "Pal" Davidson

Gerald Roger “Pal” Davidson, age 85, died on July 22, 2021. He was born on June 22, 1936 to Isaac and Rhea Davidson in Wirt, MN. Pal attended the one room schoolhouse in Wirt, where he was taught by Ida Carver, and Deer River High School, where he stayed in the dormitories and graduated in 1954.

Pal moved with his family to Seattle, WA in 1957, where he worked at Boeing and Bethlehem Steel. He enlisted in the Army in 1958. He served in intelligence and communications around the world, including in Japan, Thailand, and Germany.

After retiring from the Army in the late seventies, Pal moved back to the old homestead in Wirt, where he built a house with his own two hands. His father and mother came from Seattle to live with him in 1981. In 1987, he married Linnette Adams Gunther and became a first-time father to two preteen children, Sandy and Jay Gunther. Pal and Linnette had Lacey Joy in 1990 and Alexander in 1993 (stillborn).

Pal loved spending time with family and friends, tending his vegetable garden, hunting and fishing, feeding the deer and birds in the backyard, having coffee with neighbors, cooking for his family, reading Tom Clancy books, and napping in his chair with the cats on his lap. He was an active community member, reliable neighbor, and member of the Dora Lake Alliance Church.

He is preceded in death by his son, Alexander Fitzgerald Davidson; parents; sisters, Floy McCallister and Donna Beach; and brothers, Leroy and Eugene Davidson.

He is survived by his wife, Linnette (Adams) Davidson; children, Sandy (Gunther) Peace, PsyD, James Gunther, LaC, and Lacey Davidson, PhD; brother, Rodney Davidson; and sister, Joy Bowers.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m., July 31, 2021, at Dora Lake Alliance Church in Dora Lake, MN. The service will be followed by a burial at the Wirt Cemetery and a reception at the Wirt Town Hall.

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