Gordon Stevenson

BLACK EARTH - Gordon Ray Stevenson, PE, of Black Earth, Wisconsin, died at home on May 24, 2025. He was born on March 9, 1950, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., to Lenzie Ray and Ruby (Née, Niblick) Stevenson.

Gordon was the devoted husband of Trish (nee Elder) Stevenson and father of Hanna Stevenson of Fairbanks, Alaska and Bergere Stevenson of Black Earth and Ft. Myers, Florida. He was also the proud grandfather of Starker Boucher, age 11, of Fairbanks.

Gordon made significant professional accomplishments in his life. With close friends and family he had many adventures. But his favorite person was my mom, Trish. And his favorite things to do included gardening and canoeing with her. She taught him to canoe and would paddle my father around as a “princess” fisherman. His term. He would say, “I am at my wealthiest when my wife is paddling and I am fishing.” It’s a cherished memory of both my parents calmly existing together. ~ Hanna

Gordon was a tireless advocate and problem solver for his family, his friends, his community, and his professional colleagues. His attention to detail was seen in his perfectly calibrated pots of coffee, his specifically engineered loaves of sourdough bread and his insanely delicious southern BBQ. Gordon and Trish raised chickens, turkeys and lamb as well as organic veggies. In the ‘70s they planted an acre of asparagus which they sold at Madison’s Farmer’s Market. Every year they generously shared their abundant harvests with family and friends.

While Gordon skillfully developed rich soil tilth in their vegetable gardens, he also cultivated deep and lasting friendships with memorable gatherings at their log home. His canoeing skills on the other hand may not have initially impressed Trish early on in their relationship; he was known to tip the boat. Through the years, canoeing with friends in the Canadian Quetico Wilderness became an annual ritual of renewal, a means of restoring their spirit in the wilderness.

Gordon’s passion for education, precise attention to detail, and innate sense of ethics led to a career as an agricultural engineer, focusing on the urgent need to protect water shed quality and stream health from harmful effects of non-point source pollution. Gordon was a leader and served as Chief of Runoff Management for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources where he was an architect of the state’s environmental programs related to its livestock industry.

He served as President of the Board of Directors for the Aldo Leopold Foundation for many years and as well as on the Board of Directors for the Midwest Environmental Advocates. He was on the Town of Vermont’s Planning Commission, served as a Town Supervisor, and was selected to become a member of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program. Gordon’s leadership and innovations were recognized by the many awards he received during his lifetime.

Gordon’s keen intelligence, sharp mischievous wit, and consummate, disarming low-country folksy storytelling style entertained, nurtured, and supported those who knew him. He was devoted to Trish who led him into an artful, creative life assisting with her business as a self-employed metalsmith. Early in his life Gordon was gifted at playing cello and later enjoyed his four guitars.

Gordon is survived by his wife of 55 years, Trish (Elder); daughter, Hanna; son, Bergere; grandson, Starker Iron; sister, Carol Jane Harlow; and nephews, Johnathon and Nicholas Harlow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in Gordon’s honor to the educational trust fund being established for Gordon and Trish’s grandson, Starker. Please mail to Trish Stevenson, c/o Gunderson Funeral Home, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, WI 53716.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420

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River Alliance Interview:

WATER HERO: GORDON STEVENSON

“I am a 26 year veteran of the Wisconsin DNR. I served as the Chief of Runoff Management until retiring in 2011.”

Waterways statewide

Black Earth, WI

HOW DO YOU WORK TO PROTECT WISCONSIN’S WATERS?

While serving as the Chief of Runoff Management for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, I had overall responsibility for voluntary, regulatory, agricultural and urban programs related to nonpoint source water pollution abatement in Wisconsin.

My professional expertise includes watershed-based water resource protection and control of diffuse water pollution sources. In particular, I have been an architect of Wisconsin’s environmental programs that apply to Wisconsin’s extensive livestock industry. From 1990 through 2003, I served as President of the Board of Directors of the Aldo Leopold Foundation. I currently serve on the Board of Directors for Midwest Environmental Advocates.

WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CONCERNS RIGHT NOW?

Our most serious sources of environmental problems in Wisconsin have been—and remain to be—agricultural. At present, Wisconsin’s conventional agricultural systems produce massive volumes of food and fiber. Those systems also pollute surface water and groundwater. They lose precious topsoil. The Dead Zone in Green Bay, the undrinkable groundwater in the Central Sands and the pathogen-infused drinking water supplies in Kewaunee County are among the many tragic results of an industry that now aspires to “feed the world.” The price of doing that is too high.

Aldo Leopold said it much more poetically than I can: “The oldest task in human history is to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.”

WHAT KEEPS YOU STRONG AND INSPIRED IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES?

I am inspired by the growing number of Wisconsin farmers who practice sustainable agriculture.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE “WATER SPOT” IN WISCONSIN?

All the little lakes in the American Legion-Northern Highlands State Forest with walk-in boat landings. The Lower Wisconsin