Gordon A. Gordy Halseth of Richland, WA passed away after a brief illness on Monday, October 3, 2011. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on March 16, 1916 to Albert and Hilda Bergh Halseth.

In his youth, Gordy, an only child, lived and traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada due to his father's work. He attended 14 different schools before graduating from West High School in Minneapolis. He also spent a lot of time at his mother's family farm with his Norwegian bachelor uncles, where his first language was Norwegian. After high school, he drove truck, worked for the newspaper, delved into photography and worked for the railroad. He enrolled in the University of Minnesota and was on the football team until injuring his back. After 2 years, he left school to work as a supervisor in a munitions plant, where he met his future wife, Marjorie Skogmo. He enlisted in the Navy during WWII and was a Radar Electronics Officer flying off the aircraft carrier USS Ranger in the Pacific at the end of the war.

After he completed his military service in 1946, Gordy and Marj were married in Palm Springs, CA where she was working. They returned to Minneapolis, where he continued his education, graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1948 with a degree in chemical engineering. Upon graduating he was recruited by General Electric for the Hanford Project. They moved to Richland, towing a trailer with all their "worldly possessions," and first resided in the North Richland Trailer Park then moved to a ranch house on Birch Street where he resided for 63 years.

Gordy started his Hanford career in production as a supervisor in the plutonium separation plants. He then switched to research and development for Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, working at the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor. There he led the first successful clean-up of a nuclear reactor incident. He then published the definitive paper on reactor clean-up, establishing him as an expert in nuclear clean-up and safety. In 1979 he went to the 3 Mile Island reactor accident with the early response team as a consultant on containment and clean-up. In 1981, he retired from full time work, serving his last several years as head of safety for PNL. He continued consulting for Battelle, never losing his keen interest in all disciplines of science.

After retirement, Gordy and Marj traveled in their motor home, sightseeing and visiting relatives and old acquaintances around the country. They also made numerous trips with friends and family to Hawaii, Alaska, and Mexico. As Marj's health failed he assumed the role of caregiver and "chief cook and bottle washer," amazing many with his cooking skills. After Marj's death in 1988, Gordy shared a special relationship with long time family friend, Betty Ghirardo. They were travel companions, sports fans, and they enjoyed daily cribbage matches. They traveled to every continent but Africa and they played over 24, 000 cribbage games.

In recent years, Gordy remained active with daily visits to the Spudnut Shop "solving the world's problems," doing the crossword puzzle and visiting grandchildren. He rooted for his favorite teams which were the Bombers, Cougs, Mariners, Zags, Gophers and Ducks. He also finished editing a DVD of interviews and photos he had taken at Marj's large Skogmo family reunions which dated back to 1946. His last trip was in July when he flew to Minneapolis to attend their 13th family reunion, where he was honored for his work.

Gordy had many hobbies but fishing and hunting stood out. He was an early member of Richland Rod & Gun Club. He owned several "hunting dogs," his last being the infamous G.D. Cap. He hunted pheasant into his 80's and caught his last steelhead at 90. Gordy was also an avid photographer with thousands of photos, albums, movies and videos dating back to the 1930's. Gordy moved to Vancouver, WA, in March of this year to be closer to his family.

He is survived by his son, Greg Halseth, and wife, Mary; daughter-in-law Lila Halseth Champoux and husband, Joe; grandson Glenn Halseth and wife Lisa; granddaughter Heather Halseth Taylor and husband Seth; and grandson Steven "Chip" Halseth and wife Rebecca; and six great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Skogmo Halseth, his son, Steven Gordon Halseth, and his great grandson, Trent Halseth Taylor.

Gordy attributed his long life and overall good health to spudnuts and coffee, good conversation, a couple of bourbons a day and the good sense to quit smoking 50 years ago. It is impossible to summarize 95 good years of life in a few short paragraphs, but let it be said that Gordy was universally loved and will be greatly missed. He will be remembered for many things, including his even temperament, dry humor, thoughtful listening skills and truthful and honest counsel. Among the last of a great generation, Gordy was and is a true role model!

A memorial service will be held at Einan's Funeral Home in Richland on Friday October 14th at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Benton Franklin Humane Society, 8620 W. Gage Blvd, Kennewick, WA 99336 or to your favorite charity.