Gordon Noel Green

Gordon Noel Green, 87, of Mankato, MN passed away peacefully on April 18, 2025 at Oaklawn Rehabilitation and Care Center.

Gordon was born on November 28, 1937, to Roy and Eleanor (Baldwin) Green in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. He grew up in North Redwood Falls and graduated from Redwood Falls High School in 1957. From 1959 to 1962, he proudly served his country as a member of the Army 82nd Airborne.

On December 14, 1963, Gordon married Calverna Eltye Arends at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Waterbury Township. The couple settled in Mankato, where Gordon attended and graduated from Mankato State College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts Education. Tragically, Calverna and their unborn baby boy passed away in a car accident, a loss that deeply shaped Gordon’s life.

In time, Gordon found love again and married Barbara Kachlemeier, together they shared 36 years of marriage. During that time, they purchased and operated Stephen Cleaners, a dry cleaning business that Gordon took great pride in running. He poured his heart into the business and was immensely proud of what they built together.

Beyond work, Gordon was a man of many passions. He enjoyed golfing, handcrafting walking sticks, and spending time with his family—who always came first in his heart. He also loved music, often filling the house or shop with the sounds of his favorite songs. He had a loveably gruff demeanor, with a kind heart and fiercely devoted to those he loved. To know Gordon was to feel the strength of his love and the depth of his character.

He is survived by his sister, Bonnie Lee (Paul) Christensen; his daughters Pamela (Dave) Rawn, Elizabeth (David) Gray and Michelle (Daniel Shonbom) Green; his stepson Brian (Leda) Green; and his grandchildren Kya (Nate) Entleutner and Nick Rawn and Elsie and Jackson Gray and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife Calverna, infant son Thor Allen Green, his parents, Roy and Eleanor Green, sisters Sharon Zimmer, Annette Roiger and brothers Claude and Doug, sister-in-law Marlene Green, brother-in-law Vern Roiger, nephews Douglas Zimmer and Andrew Christensen.

Gordon requested a private burial at the veterans cemetery in Redwood Falls, MN.