White Pine Village gardeners pay tribute to Don Gohn

By Rob Alway. Editor-in-Chief. 

PERE MARQUETTE TWP. — Members of the Gardening Angels of White Pine Village gathered Wednesday morning to pay tribute to a friend of the village. The group dedicated a tree in honor of Don Gohn.

Don had been a resident of Tamarac Village in Hamlin Township since 1993. He was a retired teacher, wrestling coach and football coach from Sparta. One of his passions in retirement was to volunteer as the lawn mower at White Pine Village. He died in October 2013 at the age of 79. In retirement he also assisted with the Mason County Central football program in Scottville.

“Don was a wonderful friend of White Pine Village,” Carolyn Ptaszenski said.

“He loved it out here,” Don’s wife Lynne said. “He volunteered here for about 10 to 12 years. He was volunteer of the year twice. He just loved being here and having coffee and cookies with the gardening club.”

The Gardening Angels are actually members of the Mason County Gardening Club. They tend the village’s 30 gardens every Tuesday during the season. Today (Wednesday) was the official planting day and was fitting to pay tribute to Don.

Don’s tree is an Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry tree and it was planted just a few feet from the village’s chapel, high on top of the hill, overlooking the rest of White Pine Village.

“I think Don would have been touched by all this,” Lynne said.

After a short ceremony, the group gathered in a circle around the tree and said the Lord’s Prayer in Don’s honor.