David John Gohdes

life story

Dave's Great Life

David John Gohdes was the youngest son of Robert John Gohdes and Cynthia Adelaide (Geiman) Gohdes, both of whom preceded him in going home to God. He is survived by his sisters Karen Gohdes and Amy Gohdes-Luhman, his brother Eric Gohdes, his nieces Addison, Josie, Katherine and Elizabeth, his nephews Dylan and Sam, and his grand-nephew and grand-niece Phineas and Jean.

Dave spent his infancy and early childhood in DeForest, Wisconsin, where his Dad was serving as pastor at the Moravian Church. As a baby and young child, he struggled with a cleft palate and seemingly constant and sometimes dangerous ear infections. These were eventually resolved with surgeries, and Dave became a healthy and active child and man. Although he was unable to speak, he could hear, and he communicated through gesture and sign language.

Dave's intellectual disabilities were significant, but he did not let that get in the way of full participation in life. He was the holy terror of several special education classrooms, both in DeForest and in Chaska, MN, where the family moved in late 1978. Dave attended Chaska High School, where he was particularly proud of being the "equipment manager" for the soccer team. He was delighted to graduate in 1992, and his class ring was a treasured possession all his life.

Dave had moved out of his parents' house and into a group home by his late teens, but he was close with his family and spent holidays and many visits and vacations with his parents and/or siblings. Once he was 18, Karen became Dave's legal guardian, so Bob and Cyn could just be parents.

For the past 25 years or so, Dave has lived at the same group home in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. This group home is the first one started by two employees of a group home Dave was living in, and he was one of the first two residents. The support those guys (and later, their employees) gave Dave allowed him to live a complete and joyful life, and kept Dave's family relationships free of stress.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made house hermits of us all, but prior to that Dave was active in all kinds of things. He was on softball, bowling and basketball teams. He took arts and crafts and yoga classes. He loved to camp and fish, and to go sightseeing on trips. He went to dances and parties.

As a younger adult, Dave did work in various supported employment jobs, with tasks ranging from prepping silverware for service at a pizza place, to grounds maintenance and janitorial, to recycling toner cartridges, and most recently recycling dry cleaner hangers. In recent years Dave has just been helping out with miscellaneous chores at the group homes MTF, Inc. owns. One might say he took early retirement.

No summary of Dave's life would be complete without mentioning that he was the world's proudest uncle. He loved watching his nieces and nephews grow up, and looked forward to their high school graduations from the day of their birth. Dave was enthusiastic about family and family traditions in general. The gatherings with his Gohdes cousins at Studebaker Meets were a particular highlight of his life.

Dave will be missed by many. But as he would say, he has gone to be with God (and Uncle Jim and Mom and Dad), and God is all around us.

What Happened? About Dave's Death

People are understandably curious about Dave's death. What happened? How could this healthy, clean-living 50 year old be taken from us so suddenly?

David was vulnerable to choking all his life. He tended to wolf his food, and he didn't have the greatest cough reflex. But incidents of starting to choke had always been minor and insignificant. Dave had always been able to clear his airway and go on with his meal with no fuss.

On Monday April 19th, it didn't happen that way. Dave was eating lunch at the group home when he got up, went to the kitchen sink, threw up, and then passed out. It turned out that he had choked and aspirated a large amount of food. His airway was cut off completely, and his heart subsequently stopped. The EMTs had a very difficult time clearing his airway and restarting his heart.

Although David had regained a pulse by the time they got him to the hospital, he had suffered massive brain damage and never regained consciousness. On Thursday the doctor let us know that Dave was never coming back to us.

On Friday April 23rd we removed life support, and on Saturday Dave took his last breath, with Amy and I at his side. Although organ donation was not possible, the tissue and other bits and parts Dave was able to give from his body could help up to 50 or 60 other people, and Dave would think that was cool and interesting.

memorial service

Memorial Service

July 31, 2021

Zoar Moravian Church 8265 County Rd 10, Waconia, MN 55387, USA

Dave's memorial service will be held outdoors at the historic Zoar Moravian Church and Cemetery at the end of July, with the Waconia Moravian Church as our back up location in case of bad weather. We will have a canopy for shade. The service will be followed by a light lunch. Tables and chairs will be available to eat at, but feel free to bring lawn chairs and or picnic blankets if you like. For those of you familiar with Zoar's lack of amenities, be assured that we will provide the modern equivalent of an outhouse.

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services