VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The former North Dakota Dem-NPL Chairman George Gaukler of Valley City died Tuesday, March 11th at the age of 88.
Gaulker was party chair from 1980 to 1994, a time that saw two to three seats in Congress held by North Dakota Democrats. All three seats are now held by Republicans.
Former Congressman Earl Pomeroy said Gaukler was like an older brother to him and was the most effective State Chairman the Democratic Party ever had.
“North Dakota lost one of its most prominent businessmen in the passing of Valley City’s George Gaukler, said former State Sen. Larry J. Robinson who recently retired as Executive Director of the Valley City State University Foundation. Robinson will be our guest on our Voice of the Valley program on KOVC Radio Thursday, March 13th to talk about Gauklers many accomplishments for the state and community. The program will air at 11:30am Thursday and be podcast on NewsDakota.com. Just click on the listen button bar, drop down to podcast and swing to the right on Thursday afternoon. You can listen to KOVC podcasts anytime of the day once they are posted. But the full interview is available right now below.
Gaukler spent his life in real estate development building single family homes and apartments.
A celebration of life for George Gaukler will be held on Thursday, April 10 at the Larry J. Robinson Center for the Arts on the campus of Valley City State University.
The following is a statement from Dick Gulmon.
“George was an extra ordinary generous man. He had a unique vision for the business work and community needs. Most people don’t have any idea how generous he was over the years to people and organizations with specific needs. George was a giant and leader on the state political scene. Most of the credit goes to George for assembling great Congressional leaders like Valley City’s own, Earl Pomeroy as well as Senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad. I was fortunate to know George on a personal, business and community aspect the last 40 years. George was a man of his word and his bond was everything. I looked up to George and trusted him throughout. The Gaukler Family Wellness Center was a vision of George’s. The first time we met to discuss his vision was at Dacotah Bank with Tyler Jacobson, Larry Robinson, Jennifer Feist and myself. George presented his vision and honestly. I didn’t think it could be done. It was a huge undertaking but I trusted George and knew if this project was even possible, it will take George to lead us through the process. Today we have this wonderful facility for the community and University. George never wanted the credit or his name on the building. We pushed George for his namesake on the building and he reluctantly agreed. I’m a better person for knowing my friend George and will never forget him.”
