Gordon A. Strohmeier

Gordon Alan Strohmeier passed away peacefully in El Dorado Hills, CA after a lengthy illness, on June 20, 2022, at the age of 92. He was born in San Francisco, CA, to Mervyn George Strohmeier and Florence Anita Strohmeier (Cook); who later moved their family to San Mateo, CA, where Gordon graduated from San Mateo High School. His brother, Donald, preceded him in death in 2011. Gordon is survived by his loving wife, Linda (Mariani) of 68 years, daughter: Lisa Bischoff (Kenneth), of El Dorado Hills, CA, Son: Mark Strohmeier (Julie), of Peacham, Vermont, Grandchildren: Scott Thomas Jr. (Kimberly) of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, Kelly Moreno (Matt) of Vacaville, CA, Lauren Strohmeier of Portland, Maine, Alexandra Strohmeier of Jamaica, New York; and his little favorites, Great-grandchildren: Summer, Karly & Blake. Soon after graduating from High School, Gordon joined the United States Air Force as part of the 145th AC&W Squadron and was stationed at Geiger Air Force Base in Spokane where he worked on radar. As a retired Air Force Vet, Gordon then became a member of the IBEW Local #617 where he started his apprenticeship as an electrician. Gordon and Linda married on Valentine's Day in 1954 and lived in Burlingame, CA until he retired from the Electrical Union after 41 years. They built their dream home in Fairfield, CA where they lived for over 30 years until early April of this year. Gordon, AKA "Gordie" or "Strohmeier", was an avid hunter during the years, which led him to his greatest passion and the identity he became most famous and known for. It all started with his first "bird dog", a Vizsla, who captured his heart and most (all) of his attention! It started with 1 dog, ended up being "10" Vizslas over the years. Linda joined Gordon's hobby and love of Dog Shows & Field Trials for their "kids". Gordon was well known in their Vizsla Club as having many Champs and Dual Champs; ribbons, awards, & photos covered their home! For many years Gordon spent numerous hours volunteering to teach others, setting up fields for competitions, held "Snake Brake" training (catching the Rattlesnakes himself for live training with the dogs from different clubs), and just plain being helpful and generous. Near the end, Gordon and Linda had 4 Vizlas at one time during their 80's. Those who knew Gordon, loved him; he definitely, made his mark in life! Gordon was very funny, witty, cranky at times, opinionated, expressed his strong right wing political views, was very patriotic, a hard worker, stubborn, a perfectionist, jack-of-all trades, and always loved his wife, Linda, very deeply! This tough old guy (my Dad) turned into quite the cuddly cute Great-Grandpa at the end. We will always love and miss him! Per Gordon's request, there will be no services. Gordon will be spread privately with the ashes of his 10 Vizslas. My Dad was interviewed by us approximately 1 year ago (at the age of 91) Here is his story in his own words: My full name is: Gordon Alan Strohmeier AKA: G.A.S. I was born in San Francisco, CA to Mervyn George and Florence Anita Strohmeier on January 17th, 1930. I lived in the Parkside district of San Francisco and attended Grammar school. There I played in the sand dunes between the districts on 31st Ave, off of Taraval Street; a block and 1/2 from the start of the dunes. I sold corsages at the local Safeway store with my 5-year younger brother, Don Lee Strohmeier who was also born in San Francisco 1/5/1935 and passed away 6/1/2011 in Oroville, CA. I used to pull Don around in a wagon while he handled the flowers we sold. The money we made was dropped into a bowl next to him in the cart. We did well selling flowers, and always walked along Taraval Street looking for dropped change at the street car stops. We did very well for 2 young kids! My parents purchased a home in San Mateo on Sonora Drive, and I attended Baywood Grammar School, making many friends; mostly girls!! My playing an accordion gathered many fans and future girlfriends! After summer school, I attended Borel Junior High School for 2 years; previous to attending San Mateo High School. During that time, I had many after school jobs. For example, at meat markets, grocery stores, delivering death notices for service men for Western Union, and as a gardener's assistant. The gardener would sit in his truck drinking booze from a paper bag while I worked! Another story, was back when World War 2 was over and celebrations were taking place in San Francisco; where we lived during that time. My parents let my brother, Don, and I to go to see those major celebrations. There were drunken citizens, soldiers, naval members, & Chinese citizens throwing fireworks into the crowds (burning rayon socks off the legs of women), service men were climbing statues along Market Street, pulling ladies up there with them and undressing them in front of all to see! What a time for my Mom and Dad to return home and find me and my brother Donald in the middle of it all! So.......San Mateo High School, there I went. They decided to get us out of San Francisco to the San Mateo Home where we then started living. At San Mateo High School I played both football and was on their swim teams; all 4 of my years there. I had many part-time jobs during that time as well as many confrontations with Burlingame High School students (who were our school's rival). Plus, I had dates with Burlingame girls at GREAT parties and girls from a local Catholic school (who were VERY wealthy!) My part-time job during High School was delivering groceries. I graduated from San Mateo High in 1948. I joined the San Mateo Sea Scouts and lasted only one excursion. I was at the helm of the Sea Scout boat returning to Coyote Point Harbor in San Mateo from Treasure Island Naval Facility. The engine of the boat quit running and we drifted for hours, until we were towed back to the harbor at Coyote Point. I left ALL of my insides out in the bay!! So, I immediately sold my naval clothes and retired FOREVER from any naval experiences in the future. I joined the Air National Guard soon after my "on the bay" experience when I was close to being drafted. I then attended Junior College of San Mateo on and off for 2 years; leaving occasionally for jobs in San Mateo and San Jose. I worked in Chevron gas stations and almost purchased one on El Camino Real in San Mateo. Soon after High School and work, the government made our National Guard an arm of the United States Air Force and sent all 3 units to Geiger Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. There we opened an old air force base. What a job!! I worked on radar and later volunteered for units that were dropped by parachutes into territories to be watched by radar; to prevent air strikes by enemy air forces. I received an additional stripe and waited as many Air Force friends left base for new positions and schooling for officer work elsewhere. One day I was instructed to dress in uniform and report to the parade grounds where 3 officers called me before them to receive a release from the 145th AC&W squadron...and it was the end of this squadron, since I was the only one left. As a retired Air Force Vet, I hung around in a new crowd in San Mateo; sometimes attending the horse races at Bay Meadows Racetrack. One time during a memorial race for the deceased owner of Bay Meadows, I was walking past the winning horse through the crowd. A friend of mine in that crowd yelled out to me. When I looked in that direction, I did not realize that my photo had been taken. It was shown on TV for the news about the memorial and the photo with me in it, was VERY clear! That night my Dad asked me if I had been busy out there looking for a job. I said, "Boy was I looking for a job!!" Then, he showed me my picture in the San Mateo Times. It clearly showed me between the horse and the garland around the horse's neck. This was all because of a, "Hey Strohmeier!". My Dad then grabbed the phone and called the Business Manager of the San Mateo IBEW Union, who was the son of my Grandfather's best friend. The NEXT day, I was an IBEW Local #617 member, starting my apprenticeship as an electrician. (On a side note, Lisa's birth certificate listed her father's current occupation as an apprentice electrician.) I spent a little more time as an apprentice (2 years) then received a Journeyman's wage and ran jobs over those paid as foreman. I had many great jobs on buildings in the Peninsula and bank jobs for Bank of California around the north counties. This job was installing security systems and cameras to stop bank robberies that were happening at an alarming rate in northern California. I also worked in San Francisco on high-rise office buildings, new and those being remodeled; for Bay Electric sites. Later I worked for a company called, Decker Electric. My last years as an electrical foreman was for them at Genentech in South San Francisco. Genentech supported South San Francisco with power sources when the city was lacking enough power for other companies in the neighborhood. I was 1 out of 4 electricians at Genentech when they were starting at out in a small building in South San Francisco. The size of Genentech grew leaps and bounds during my next 11 years; up until my retirement at 65 years old. The total time I spent as an electrician was 41 years. Earlier, back in 1953 I met Linda Ann Mariani on a blind date. I had seen her before and asked for her name and phone number from her friends. She said OK! Linda's folks lived on Bernal in Burlingame. We dated for a very short time (a couple months or so) when I asked her to marry me... but her mother said "no!" She wasn't 21 yet, so we at least waited until February 14th (Valentine's Day) 1954 to have our wedding at St. Mathews Episcopal Church in San Mateo. What a crowd we had at our wedding and also at our reception; which was held at a local large restaurant called, "Bob's on Broadway". Linda would not be 21 years of age until July 18th that year... but we soon made it to her Mom's original request. Our 1st home was purchased by Linda's folks at 101 Newton Drive in Burlingame. It was a great little hillside home where Lisa was received on the last day of 1954. However, Lisa constantly kept us on our toes. To this day, I can still remember looking out back and seeing her at the age of 2, walking along the top of our high fence. Needless to say, we did not last long in this home. Linda's folks moved to Castenada Drive in Burlingame in the Mills Estates. Later they purchased a new duplex for us to live in (1727-1729 Sequoia Avenue); 2 blocks below their home. We moved into the rear section of the duplex (1729) and Mark, our son, was born April 20th, 1959. We added a game room to the rear duplex and enjoyed our living quarters for many years. Our kids, Lisa and Mark, had many schools close to home. There was Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, BIS (Burlingame Intermediate School), and Mills High School; all within walking distance. For many years I spent lots of time fishing around the state and later hunting doves with Linda's relatives around Tulare County. That was the start of my love of hunting. Then, deer hunts began, and I was captivated to many years of deer and elk hunting around the states. Many years later I bought a dog for hunting birds. This dog, a "Vizsla", started me hunting "only birds" at state reserves, private clubs of friends, etc. After many years and several Vizslas, I started to enter Field Trials for pointing dogs. The last 6 dogs gathered "212" placements in Field Trials! I had two dogs with "Show", "Open Gun Dog", "Amateur Gun Dog", "Master Hunter" titles and two with a "new" title given: "Master Hunter Advanced"! Two with Amateur Championships and Master Hunter titles. All, of our last Vizsla pups have been Master Hunter Champs! Linda and I had this home built in Fairfield after I retired. It is in the Blue Ridge Oaks gated subdivision on 3 acres; not far from Vacaville. It's a large home with a pool in the courtyard, a big dog run, and a horse corral. Over the years here we also had 2 horses and enjoyed many animals like deer, rabbits, peacocks, turkeys, and squirrels that drank out of our water trough. We have been here for over 30 years and love our home. I designed it to be on the slope of our property to set between the beautiful oaks and take in all of the views of the hills around us. For many years I held snake training clinics at the park in our subdivision for the Vizsla club as well as other dog clubs who joined in. I was often called by neighbors to come get rattlesnakes off of their properties; which I kept alive (in a well-marked garbage can in our garage) until the training. I de-fanged the snakes, just before the "Snake Brake" training. This clinic grew in numbers each year. Linda always got mad at me because I could not hear them rattle; but at least I had my dogs trained to warn me! At 87 1/2 years of age, I was trying very hard to finish my last Vizsla (my 10th!) in Amateur Gun Dog. He needed only 1 point to complete his championship to get his "Master Hunter Advanced" title. My last dog was named "Red", because that was the color of his collar when the lady judge picked him for "Best 8-week-old puppy" during a large show. Pat Hastings was the one who picked the best puppies from many puppies at shows. Red was shown many times for favorable conformation by Pat Hastings as an example of "Best of Puppies", during her analysis of perfect conformation. She called out for him 8 times to show his good looks, calling out, "Give me RED again!" Since that day, when I run into anyone present at the judging, they would ask me, "How's Red?" So, that became his name! THIS WAS AS FAR AS MY DAD TALKED ABOUT FOR US TO WRITE ALL THAT KNOW HIM, KNOW THAT HIS DOGS WERE EVERYTHING TO HIM AND THAT THEY MADE HIM PROUD; HIS IDENTITY SINCE RETIREMENT. IT WAS VERY HARD FOR HIM TO LOSE HIS LAST DOG DURING THE FIRST SPRING OF COVID (2 YRS AGO) THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, BUT IT WAS SO GOOD TO SEE HIM TRULY ENJOYING FAMILY VISITS AND SMILING BIG WHEN HE SAW HIS GREAT GRANDKIDS! DAD ALSO STILL HAD VERY WITTY COMMENTS AND WAS FUNNY TO MY KIDS! HE ALWAYS LOVED MOM DEEPLY AND OFTEN TOLD HER HOW GREAT SHE LOOKED (VERY SWEET)... ALSO STILL COMMENTING ON HER GREAT LEGS! ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS THAT HAPPENED RECENTLY WAS WHEN SEVERAL OF US WERE IN HIS ROOM VISITING. THE CUTE PHYSICAL THERAPY GAL CAME IN AND SAID, "HI GORDON, I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU WORK TODAY! HOW DO YOU FEEL?!" WITHOUT A PAUSE, MY DAD SMILED AND SAID, "SHITTY!" HE HAD THE WHOLE ROOM LAUGHING! (AND HE LOVED IT!) THAT WAS "STROHMEIER" FOR YOU!!