Gertrude Salzer, daughter of Henry and Clara (Kremers) Salzer, was born on January 26, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She was the granddaughter of John A. Salzer, the founder of the Salzer Seed Company in La Crosse in 1868. Gertrude graduated from Central High School in 1924 and went on to obtain a liberal arts degree from Connecticut College, New Lisbon, Connecticut. After returning to La Crosse, she married Donald Alexander Gordon, son of George H. and Stella (Goddard) Gordon, on November 22, 1930. George H. Gordon was an attorney and dean of the La Crosse County Bar Association. Gertrude and Donald's only child, Donald Alexander "Sandy" Gordon, Jr., was born on July 11, 1932.
Donald Gordon, Sr. was a stockbroker who became involved in politics in the 1920's by raising finances for the Republican Party's work in La Crosse County. He was elected treasurer of the state central committee of the Republican Party in 1934 and became actively involved with the Wisconsin State Republican Party. In 1936, Gordon was elected third congressional district chairman of the state Republican voluntary organization. Donald Gordon, Sr. passed away unexpectedly on April 6, 1943, leaving a widow and a young son. A number of prominent state Republicans attended his funeral.
Gertrude Salzer Gordon never remarried. While raising her son, Donald, Jr., also known as "Sandy," she was actively involved in the community. She served on the board of the Family Welfare Society for ten years, served seventeen years on the board of the La Crosse Home for Children, served on the original board of the Community Chest (a forerunner of the United Way), and was a member and president of the board of the YWCA. She also served on board of Elder Care and the Bethany Home board as a representative of the First Presbyterian Church.
Gertrude Salzer Gordon was a generous philanthropist. She made large financial contributions to a wide variety of local organizations including the Gertrude Salzer Gordon Children's Museum, the First Presbyterian Church, the North Presbyterian Church, Gundersen and Lutheran Hospital Foundations, the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium, the Boys and Girls Club, the Family and Children's Center, the La Crosse Public Library, and many others. Gertrude Salzer Gordon passed away on August 25, 1998.
Her son, Donald, Jr., graduated from Central High School in 1950, and attended Beloit College and what is now the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He developed a love of baseball early in his life, and in 1989, offered to donate $1.25 million to the city of La Crosse to be used toward the construction of a new baseball stadium at West Copeland Park which he requested be named after his father. His donation would have paid for half of the cost of the new stadium. La Crosse city voters turned down Gordon's offer in April 1989. Gordon, along with D. B. Reinhart and Norman L. Gillette, Sr., was later responsible for helping to bring the professional basketball team, the Catbirds, to La Crosse in 1985. Gordon also served on the boards of many charitable organizations, and he made many generous donations to local organizations including the La Crosse Area Boys and Girls Club, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and the La Crosse Foundation. Gordon, who never married, died on Nov. 9, 1995.
