Gordon Burton VonSteenburg

Gordon Burton VonSteenburg, longtime West Branch businessman, coach and sportsman, and a West Branch resident for nearly 60 years, died peacefully at his Dow Road home, surrounded by family, Wednesday morning, October 22, 2026. He was 92.

Gordon was born April 6, 1934, in Flint, MI, eldest of six children born to G. Elwood Von Steenburg and Vivian M. (Anway) VonSteenburg. Raised mostly by his grandmother Saphronia Mae LaMontagne and step-grandfather Bill. Gordon attended Lapeer-area schools.

On August 21, 1954, he married Myrna Louise Hulliberger in Flint. They had six children and were married 48 years until her death in 2002.

As a young man, Gordon worked on local farms and worked in the Flint auto plants until being drafted into the Army in 1955. He served in the 3rd Artillery Division until late 1957, stationed in Friedberg, Germany. He enjoyed telling the story about when his unit left Friedberg to return home, it was replaced by another unit that included a young singer named Elvis Presley.

After an honorable discharge, Gordon, now a father, returned to Flint and the GM assembly lines. He and Myrna moved to nearby Columbiaville in 1960, and he continued to work at GM until 1966 when he joined Harvest Insurance Co.

In 1967, he became manager of Harvest’s Northeast Michigan district, a position he would hold for 32 years. In 1968, he and Myrna moved their young family of 8 to West Branch. In 1972, they purchased a house and former farm on Dow Road where they would live the rest of their lives.

An avid baseball player, coach and fan, Gordon intently followed the Detroit Tigers for 8 decades, through good times and bad, right up to the final game of the current season. In 1984 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, he worked on the field as a member of the press prior to World Series Game 4. A fledgling 24-hour sports network called “ESPN” happened to be airing the pre-game and it amused his friends back in West Branch when they suddenly saw “Gordy” on their TV screens.

For many years Gordon had a winter home in Lakeland, Florida — spring training home of the Tigers, where he and Myrna attended nearly every spring game.

Gordon coached youth baseball throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s, first in the Lapeer area, and later in West Branch. He was proud to have had a number of Ogemaw County's best young ball players on his teams at one time or another. He himself was a top player into his 50s during Northern Michigan’s men’s unlimited-arc softball era, pitching for West Branch’s formidable Big Boy restaurant team.

A Michigan deer hunter for nearly 80 years, he bagged his last buck in 2024 at age 91. For nearly 30 years he hunted across the U.S. and Canada for North America’s bigger game — elk, bear, moose and mule deer.

An avid golfer since the late 1960s, he was a regular at most area courses and a frequent visitor to courses throughout Northern and Central Michigan, as well as his winter home in Florida. He worked as a ranger for several years at West Branch’s golf courses, The Nightmare and The Dream. He also built, owned and operated the Cedarbrook Driving Range on Dow Road near his home for 31 years, from its opening in 1992 until it closed in 2023.

Gordon and Myrna also traveled extensively, visiting such places as Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, Singapore and the Netherlands. But home was truly where his heart was.

He had a natural chemistry with children and loved entertaining them with songs (by others or ones he simply made up in the moment) and tall tales (the taller the better). Three generations of little ones in his family sat on his lap and learned his songs and stories, nearly all requesting do-overs. (“Again Grampa, again.”) And if he wasn’t singing songs or spinning yarns, he was taking them for rides on his tractors, 4-wheelers, golf carts, ponies, or a bulldozer. Yes, he once bought a used bulldozer, which he kept a few years, then sold. Its sole purpose appears to have been to entertain his grandchildren.

Gordon is survived by four of his six children: Mike (Lynn) of Indialantic, FL; Kathy Lubelan (Dan) of Johannesburg; Laura Wooley of Edgewater, FL; Bethy Petteway (Tom) of New Smyrna, FL; a brother, Jon, of Columbiaville; seven grandchildren: Kris VonSteenburg (Therese), of New Fairfield, CT; Keri Rowe (Nick), of Lakewood Ranch, FL; Ryan VonSteenburg (Carolyn), of Wells, ME; Dan Lubelan (Samantha), of Johannesburg; Jon VonSteenburg (Lindsey), of Odessa, FL; Kellen VonSteenburg (Marissa), and Griffin VonSteenburg, both of West Branch; 13 great-grandchildren: Ava, Kaden and Elizabeth (Ellie) VonSteenburg; Audrey, Chloe, Gracie and Boston Rowe; Taylor and Brooke VonSteenburg; Meredith and Danny Lubelan; James and Maeve VonSteenburg.

Gordon was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents, his wife, Myrna; sons David and Kurt; son-in-law John Wooley; a brother, Harry and three sisters, Sally, Margaret and Judy.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at Steuernol & McLaren Funeral Home in West Branch with visitation starting at 10:00 a.m. and the funeral service at 11:00 a.m. Chaplain Karen Orban officiating. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Omer, MI.

Online condolences can be shared at www.steuernolmclaren.com