Gordon Withall, 86
Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 6 months, 3 weeks AGO
Gordon Seaton Withall, 86 passed Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Sandpoint, Idaho.
He was born Jan. 11, 1939, in Altadena, Calif., to Alan and Charlotte Withall as their only child. He grew up riding horses around the Arroyo Seco Ravine that was also home to the Pasadena Rose Bowl. He graduated from Muir High School in 1957 and for a while, he worked as an orderly at the Pasadena St. Luke Hospital; then he was drafted into the U.S. Army at 21 and assigned. He became an operating room technician in a dispensary where he performed minor surgeries.
His company surgeon was working with the 3-M Company while in the Army to perfect his invention of Steri-Strips. Gordon became one of the first technicians to use them on patients; this led him to being hired by the 3-M Company after graduating from Pasadena City College in 1962. He was placed in sales and then later was promoted to branch sales manager in the Detroit and Cleveland area.
After three years, he was asked to join Iolab Corporation in San Dimas, California as a national sales manager. Johnson & Johnson purchased the company after three years and he was offered the position of Director of Sales and Marketing in the Intraocular Replacement Division. Shortly thereafter, the company was acquired by an overseas firm. Gordon retired but, to keep active, he received his real estate license and worked at Century-21 for eight years.
In 1966, his parents and a stepson passed away; his stepson’s caregiver, Ginger, an RN, later became his future wife. Both Gordon and Ginger, tired of the congested Southern California, moved to Sandpoint with their two dogs and three cats.
Gordon loved to ride horses, especially dressage. For 10 years, he worked with the developmentally disabled, at S.L. Start Company in Sandpoint. In his spare time, he enjoyed his rescue cats, dogs, and horses.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a stepson, Scott Withall.
Gordon is survived by his wife, Virginia (Ginger) Withall of Sandpoint, Idaho.
Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit Gordon’s online memorial and sign his guest book.