Gorvan Joseph LeDuc

Gorvan Joseph LeDuc

LAUREL - Gorvan Joseph LeDuc, 94, died Monday, February 23, 2015, of natural causes. Gorvan was born on November 25, 1920, in Port Severn, Ontario, Canada, to Albertine and William LeDuc. He was the second oldest of ten children. Gorvan was a merchant seaman for 5 years during World War II. Three ships were torpedoed out from under him. While he was recuperating from multiple fractures of his feet, skull and back, he was offered the opportunity to train as a watchmaker with the Bulova Watch Company in NYC. While there, he met his first wife, Barbara "Bobbie" Karan, whom he married in 1945. Four children were born to this union. In 1951 the family moved to Billings, MT, as the drier climate was kinder to Gorvan's legs and feet. He was employed as a watchmaker for Baron's Jewelers and later moved to Laurel, opening and operating LeDuc Jewelers until 1986, when he retired. Bobbie died of cancer in 1974. In addition to watchmaking, Gorvan had various interests and hobbies, including shooting, organic gardening, beekeeping, square dancing, wine making, and flying planes. He was a member of the Laurel Rod and Gun Club, an NRA shooting instructor, a member of Billings Chapter 10 of the Disabled American Veterans, a charter member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, a member of the CAP Search and Rescue Team, and a member of the Red Lodge Flying Club. He was a competition shooter and shot on the MT civilian team at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1960. On May 24, 1980, Gorvan married Dorothy Cook, a Billings resident, whom he met while square dancing. Dorothy had six children herself, five living. They were happily married close to 35 years. Survivors include his wife Dorothy, his children: Maryann McGee (Keith), Gorvan M. "Skip" LeDuc (Margaret), Jimmie Sue Lampert (Russell), Karan Hansen (Sebastian); her children: Carl Cook,(Lori), Ioleen Kranz, Robert Cook, Lisa Drache (Paul), Joan Glanz (Roger), 15 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Cremation has taken place. A rosary will be recited at 6 P.M. Friday, at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Laurel. A funeral mass will take place at 11 A.M. on Saturday at St. Anthony's; luncheon will follow. Inurnment will take place Monday in the Veterans' section of the Laurel Cemetery at a time to be determined. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Wounded Warrior Project, http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/.

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