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A good friend and climber passed away today...


stiffler

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I have some sad news for friends and accquaintances of Don Gonthier, a Portland area climber. Don passed away this morning as the result of a brain tumor that was diagnosed last summer. Don instructed climbing classes at Clackamas Community College, on occasion at Mt Hood Community College, and was part owner of a small guide service for a while. His climbing career spanned a couple decades, and I could fill a forum with stories and memories, as I am sure a few others could as well. He was a good partner and a good friend, and I will miss him very much. Goodbye, Don, I love you, man.

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Very sorry to hear of Don's passing; I only met him a couple of times, but his personality left an indelible impression, warm, bright, and genuine. A truly fine person. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

 

"Cattle die,

Kindred die,

Everyone dies.

 

But the good name

Will never die

Of one who has done well."

 

-Viking Proverb

 

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Don was a good friend of mine. A co-worker at first at a job we

both hated, he accompanied me on my first climb of Mt. Hood.

Later, with our mutual friend Rodney, we climbed all around

Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho. Truly, some of the

best days of my life were in the company of Don Gonthier. At my

instigation, Don, Rod, me and our friend Liz, climbed and spent

the night on the grassy ledges on Beacon Rock. One of the great

nights of my life. I will never forget him. A friend of the

family is passing funeral information on to me this week. They

wanted me to post here and I was really moved to see it had

already happened here by other people who loved him. Please

watch this space for more info if you are so inclined. Don had

mentioned people he knew from CCC (Olsons?) and I hope some of

you are reading this now. We lost a good man too soon. Let's

raise a glass or two to Don Gonthier. ----Scott K.

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This is sad to hear. We climbed with Don considerably many, many years ago. Met him again just last summer in the Gorge after all these years. He had recently finished his degree and had great objectives on the horizon with no indication that it would be otherwise. We have lost a valued friend. A good friendship lasts for a lifetime. My condolences to friends and family.

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Here you go:

l_9362a0ee1bb14766baef41f9ce181777.jpg

 

 

l_942ef64d6ab340999c325709bacaf5d6.jpg

 

l_598a8fa46ff4414caae6130fd78158e3.jpg

 

l_93cb362d55bc5d6afc1cd015500c83e4.jpg

 

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Here they are. Thank you for the huge contribution! I never got to climb with Don, but I did with many people that he introduced to the game at Clackamas CC, including my current main partner Ujahn. They all, without exception, were very skilled for the amount of time they had been climbing, a testament to Dons skill as a teacher.

 

 

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Thanks for posting those guys.

 

Wasn't that Don who had his picture in Climbing? The one where he was holding that melted rope he'd lost in the Snow Creek fire? That was a good story.

 

Unfortunately there's no way I can make it to the memorial Thursday. Think I'll go get that glass to raise now...

 

 

 

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Hello,

I'm Don's sister, Diane. Please know that Don's family has always known what a great guy he is and were never so proud of him as in the last six months when he battled brain cancer. Some of the same qualities that helped him maintain a positive outlook and to maintain his dry sense of humor I'm sure are some of the same qualities that helped him on his many adventures.

 

We're holding a service Thursday afternoon followed by a gathering at his sister, Donna's, house in Clackamas. We welcome his friends and would love to hear some of your memories.

 

We have some of the photos that were posted earlier. I heard a bit about the night on Beacon Rock just a few weeks ago. My Mom hated that Don climbed but understood his passion and tried not to worry. I think is was a year or two before he showed her the photo holding the burnt rope that appeared in Climbing(?) after the 1996 fires.

 

We put up a blog a couple of months ago to help keep family and friends informed. The church address is posted on the blog at http://climberdon.blogspot.com

 

If you'd like directions to the celebration of Don's life, please e-mail me at diane.gonthier@gmail.com

 

Don's family (Diane, Donna, John, Dolores, Joe, Mike and Brian)

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Ivan, if you can't say something decent about a fellow climber's passing, WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ????!!!!!!

i never met don, but i know several people who knew him - based on them, and on the pictures of don, which show him always w/ a smile, i'm gonna assume he believed in life as an enjoyable, not a solemn, endeavor - if you knew him and thought i was crapping on his memory, i apologize - every wake i've ever attended was fun as hell, mostly b/c we spent all our time remembering the good shit about the guy who died and telling jokes - you must be very sad indeed at his passing if you can't enjoy a good old fashioned mustache joke! again, my condolences for those who knew him.

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