Joseph Goerdt

Joseph A. "Joe" Goerdt, age 77 of Melrose, died after a courageous battle with cancer on Sunday, June 21, 2015 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 26 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose with Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Military honors will be by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard immediately following the service and inurnment will be at a later date at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Melrose and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday at the church in Melrose. Parish prayers will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday evening at the funeral home.

Joseph Albert Goerdt was born June 3, 1938 in Brooten, Minnesota to Anthony Sr. and Loretta (Weimerskirch) Goerdt. He served in the United States Army. On July 1, 1961 he married Marian Gieske at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Melrose. Joe installed flooring for many years and then started driving truck as an owner/operator, and was leased to Hensley Trucking until retiring in 2012. He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and Schanhaar-Otte VFW Post 7050 where he served on the drill team for many years.

Joe enjoyed camping with his family and friends and going up north working the land, planting trees, and deer hunting. He learned and later taught himself the art of wood turning. He was excellent at designing and building things made of wood and metal like tree planters, farm equipment, RV campers, and fish houses to name a few.

Survivors include his wife, Marian Goerdt of Melrose; children, Shelly (Jim) Hoppe of New Munich, Steve (Lisa) Goerdt of Melrose, and Dan Goerdt of Green Bay, Wisconsin; ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; sisters, Edwina Dehler of St. Cloud, Evelyn (Ferdie) Stepan of Sauk Centre, Anita Eskelund of Scottsdale, Arizona, Rose (Sylvester) Uphus of Sauk Centre, Marilyn (Fritz) Uphus of Greenwald, Ruth Ann (Jim) Gieske of Melrose, and Louise Echola of St. Cloud; brother, Julian "Sonny" (Audrie) Goerdt of Sauk Centre; and sister-in-law, Evelyn Goerdt of Sauk Centre.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents; infant son, Robert Goerdt; brothers, Anthony Goerdt Jr. and Roger Goerdt; sisters, Ione Kukla and Barb Spellerberg; brothers-in-law, Herb Dehler, Lloyd Eskelund, Rick Echola, Bob Kukla, and Bill Spellerberg.

Serving as urn bearers will be Cooper Goerdt, Gary Moorman, Duane Duevel, Dan Stepan, and Maurice Stepan. Cross bearer will be Jessica Rosten and scripture bearer will be Meg Goerdt.