Lester W. Gorder, Jr

Middletown, RI - Lester Weltzin Gorder Jr., 85, died on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at the Grand Islander Nursing Home.He was born in Minneapolis, MN, on May 28, 1924, to the late Lester W. Gorder and Kaia Erickson Gorder.He attended one semester at Luther College 1942 before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force December 12, 1942, becoming a navigator on a B-29 in the 497th Bomber Groups, 20th Air Force in the Pacific Islands in Saipan, Guam and Iwo Jima. Les participated as a flight officer in five combat missions totaling 75 combat hours against mainland Japan and dropped supplies to war prisoners. Two days after the last atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, his plane was selected to fly at a low altitude over Tokyo to photograph for a recongnizance mission. Japanese soldiers stood with their backs to the antiaircraft guns to show that they had surrendered. He received two Air Medals, two Distinguished Unit Citations and a Distinguished Unit Presidential Citation. He received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1949 and attended graduate programs at the University Paris - Sorbonne and the University Montpellier in France. While living in France, he had the opportunity to interview Pablo Picasso at his studio in Mougins. Les was appointed by President Eisenhower as a diplomatic courier providing diplomatic pouch delivery to US embassies in all Latin American countries from 1953-1955.Vice president of John G. Kinnard Co. brokerage firm in Minneapolis, MN where he underwrote several progressive technology innovations, such as the optical scanner and the automatic tally input system, which is todays barcode scanner. He also served on the board of advisors of Medtronix, Flotronix and Telex. He was actively involved in the Minnesota Orchestra and Lutheran Church of the Good Sheppard in Edina, MN. He retired to Mazatlan, Mexico in 1974 and remained there until the last five years of his life.He is survived by his daughter, Tenley van der Wal; son in law, Onne van der Wal; grandchildren, Read Hope, William and Adrian van der Wal all of Jamestown, RI; former wife, Barbara Sims of Arlington, Texas; sister, Carol Jane Anderson of Minneapolis; and nephews, Craig, Bruce, Mark and Paul Tammen. There will be a private family service in Mazatlan, Mexico.