TULSA-Former Hays resident, James L. Gardipee, 62, a Marine Vietnam Veteran and welder, died Tuesday, May 25 in Tulsa of an apparent heart arrhythmia.
Wake/Rosary will be Sunday May 30, at 7:00 P.M. at St. Paul’s Mission in Hays. Funeral Mass will be at St. Paul’s Mission at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, May 31. Interment with Military Honors will be in the Shortman Family Cemetery near Hays. Condolences for the family may be left at www.kirkwoodfuneralhome.com. Kirkwood Funeral Home of Malta is in charge of arrangements.
He is survived by his sisters Arlene Gardipee of Hays; Ina(Russell) Cain of St. Johns North Dakota, Nephews Delvin (Iris)
Ereaux, Cody, and Cole McCabe all of Hays; Waylon Baker, Chicago, IL; Taylor (Kris) McCabe of Portland, OR.; Niece Jamie (Robert) Nimmo of Riverton, WY; and 2 great nieces and 3 great nephews all of Hays. He is preceded in death by his parents and 2 sisters and a brother.
James was born July 17, 1947 in Hays, Montana, the son of James Patrick and Elsie Cecilia
(Shortman) Gardipee. He was raised in Hays until he went to Flandreau, South Dakota, for high school. After he graduated for high school he attended a year of college at Haskell College in Kansas. He entered the Marines in 1968 and was wounded in Vietnam, receiving the Purple Heart, and was discharged in 1969. He reenlisted in the Marines in 1971 and was honorably discharged in 1973. He attended Tulsa Welding School and was a certified welder. He worked many places through out Kansas and Oklahoma. He had been in Tulsa for the last several years after his injuries for Vietnam forced him into an early retirement. James enjoyed traveling, and his nieces and nephews. He was a very organized man, and always kept everything in a neat and orderly fashion.
TULSA-Former Hays resident, James L. Gardipee, 62, a Marine Vietnam Veteran and welder, died Tuesday, May 25 in Tulsa of an apparent heart arrhythmia. 