Leland Joseph Gorshe 1919-1999

GREGORY GORSHE WEST

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/29/2012 at 14:03:23

HORNICK, Iowa — Leland Joseph Gorshe, 80, of North Port Fla., formerly of Hornick, died Sunday, June 20, 1999, in North Port.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church it Salix, Iowa, with the Rev. Donald J. Slaven officiating. Burial will be in Willow Township Cemetery, rural Holly Springs, Iowa, with military rites conducted by American Legion Hindman-Steele Post 492. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, with a Scripture service and rosary at 7:30 p.m. at Wood Funeral Home in Sloan, Iowa.

Mr. Gorshe was born Jan. 30,1919, in Pacific Junction, Iowa, the son of Joseph P. and Blanche L. (Gregory) Gorshe. He served in the Army during World War II. He was captured in Africa while serving with the British commandos and imprisoned in Italy for over one year before escaping.

He married Ruth A. West on June 17, 1944, in Macon, Ga. The couple lived in Hornick, where he was employed as a rural mail carrier and former mayor. They moved to Florida 18 years ago. He was employed in the pro shop with Englewood Country Club for 14 years.

He was a member of San Pedro Catholic Church, Prisoners of War, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8203 of North Port, Knight of Columbus and a charter member of American Legion Hindman-Steele Post 492 of Hornick.

Survivors include his wife; two sons and their wives, Robert Joseph and, Marla of Boone, Iowa, and Michael Thomas and Nancy of Denver, Iowa; two daughters, Virginia Kay Gorshe and her husband, Louis Fisher, of Punta Gorda, Fla., and Mary Teresa McNaughton of Ankeny, Iowa; three brothers and their wives, Robert and Mary of Las Vegas, Richard and Kathleen of Hollister, Calif., and James and Iris of Des Moines; three sisters, Mary and her husband, James Birmingham of Oceanside, Calif., Virginia Gorshe, B.V.M. of North Port and Darlene and her husband, Peter Kelleher of Houston; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Angela Marie Allen.