Gerry Bunkowske, 90, plays the organ at Grace Lutheran Church

“I thank the Lord every morning when I get up that I get to live another day,” he said. “

It’s not surprising the Hutchinson resident loves music. He has spent a lifetime teaching music, playing the organ and piano, singing and directing choirs.

“It was fun to sing along as a tenor in the many places I was a teacher and music director,” Bunkowske said.

His favorite hymns are “Abide With Me” and “Now the Light Has Gone Away.” Secular standouts include “God Bless America” and “Goodnight Ladies.”

During his long career, Bunkowske said one change he has observed is that church music has gotten more worldly.

“I like the old ways better,” he said.

Bunkowske credited his mother for encouraging his interest in music. She was the organist for many years at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Vergas, Minnesota. The town of 331 is about 15 miles south of Detroit Lakes.

“She showed me a few things and I learned a lot on my own,” he said.

Following his high school graduation, Bunkowske followed his cousins to Martin Luther College in New Ulm. Although he had been raised in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, he joined the Wisconsin Synod at college.

One of the highlights of his college experience was hitchhiking to Tacoma, Washington, where he and his friend Delbert planned to earn money by picking apples.

“My dad didn’t want us to go,” Bunkowske remembered.

The college men got picked up near Detroit Lakes by a fellow driving from Boston, Massachusetts, to Portland, Oregon. While it was a ride straight through, the driver kept a whiskey bottle close at hand. It was a long three days and nights for them.

They got dropped off in Tacoma and found work thinning apples. They were working when a farmer asked them to help him get his cow and newly born calf home.

“We took his tractor and pulled a stone boat out to get the calf,” he said. “We put the calf on the stone boat and drove home while the cow followed real close to the calf, so we got them home safely.”

They followed the coast hitchhiking through Oregon and California.

When it was time to head home, they had trouble finding rides, so they hopped a train — riding on top of a car.

“Delbert was so scared, but it wasn’t that bad,” Bunkowske said. “It was the most exciting experience of my life.”

The pair got off the train in Salt Lake City and were able to hitchhike home.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

Bunkowske started his teaching and directing career in 1941 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Acoma Township, west of Hutchinson. His time in Hutchinson is noted for his first job, but it was also the place where he met and married his wife, Eunice Sitz.

When you’re a pastor or parochial teacher, you’re on the move about every five to 10 years. That held true for Bunkowske.

In 1945, the couple headed to Hortonville, Wisconsin, where he took a job as music director. From there, they moved to the resort town of Eagle River, Wisconsin, about 10 miles north of Rhinelander.

“Here I gave organ lessons and choir concerts for three years,” he said.

The next move took the family to Lake City, Minnesota, where they lived for six years.

“I was fishing by Lake Pepin casting out over many rocks when I suddenly felt a hard yank on my fishing pole as about a 5-pound walleye grabbed the worm on the hook,” he said. “I managed to get it in over the rocks. I stepped on it a few times pretty hard so he laid quite limp and I could put it in my pail. After cleaning the fish and frying him, it tasted very good.”

Fishing was a hobby Bunkowske picked up as a child growing up near Vergas.

“I did a lot of fishing on seven-mile Long Lake,” he said. “The lake out from our cabin measured over 50-feet deep. We ate lots of Long Lake fresh water fish.”

From Lake City, the family, which included four children: Glen, Ruth Anne, Paula and Jonathan headed to Norfolk, Nebraska, where Bunkowske served as organist and choir director for 31 years.

“At Norfolk, I spent my summers working at the Mid-America milk plant and enjoyed climbing up on the factory roof to get a good look at the city,” he said. “Eunice and I took trips to western Nebraska, which claimed an extension of the beautiful Black Hills.”

RETIREMENT

When it came time to retire, Bunkowske said he and Eunice headed back to Hutchinson.

“We liked the people and we liked the church,” he said. “We started here and we’ll end here.”

Eunice died in 2011 and is buried at the Immanuel Lutheran Church East Cemetery.

“At age 90, I still enjoy playing the organ at Grace Lutheran Church,” he said. “I am also able to do lots of yard work and gardening.”

When he’s not outdoors, Bunkowske can be found working on a favorite hobby: jigsaw puzzles.

“I counted 60 of them on my upstairs shelves,” he said, “that keeps me occupied.”

Bunkowske also enjoys spending time with his good friend, Dolores Schindler. They enjoy taking bus trips and going out to eat at different restaurants in Hutchinson. A favorite of their’s is McDonald’s.

“Outside of having a few aches and pains, which are normal at my age,” he said, “I’m waiting for the good Lord to take me home when He is ready.”