Howard Arthur Godecke

A memorial service for Howard Arthur Godecke, 83, a Minden native, will be 11 a.m. Jan. 8 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Gardnerville.

Mr. Godecke died Dec. 11, 2006, at a care facility in Carson City, after an illness. He was born Jan. 4, 1923, to Clarence W. and Esther M. Menzel Godecke, at Mae Noonan's birthing home in Carson City.

He grew up on the Milky Way Farm off of Heybourne Road in Minden and graduated from Douglas High School in 1941. He moved to San Francisco to become an architect after high school, but became a draftsman for the effort during World War II after the attacks at Pearl Harbor.

He founded several businesses based on his inventions, including the Songbird Survival Project. He was also a landscape designer and had worked to design Walley's Hot Springs. He was involved with the effort to convert the Douglas County High School building into the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

He was preceded in death by his sister Elinor Witt.

Among his survivors are his son Cameron Godecke of Ft. Collins, Colo.; brother Clarence W. Godecke Jr. of Minden; sister Carolyn Ernst of Rocklin, Calif.; brother-in-law Herb Witt of Minden; and several extended-family members.

Memorial donations should be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, the WNCC Foundation for Jack Walters' Bird Park at the Douglas Campus, the Lahontan Audubon Society or St. Mary's Hospice of Northern Nevada.

Mr. Godecke donated his body to the University of Nevada, Reno medical school.

• To read more about Mr. Godecke, read Linda Hiller's column at.