Clayton LeMar Gehring, 82, Albuquerque, NM, formerly of Douglas, ND, died Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 at Presbyterian Hospice in Albuquerque. Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 10:00 am at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Garrison. A rosary and vigil service will be held on Friday at 7:30 pm at the Church. Burial will be held on Tuesday, February 17 at 11:00 am at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in rural Mandan, ND.
Visitation will be held on Friday from 5 to 7pm at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Garrison.

Clayton LeMar Gehring was born December 4th, 1932 to Alex and Hilda (Kastner) Gehring in Garrison, ND. He had three sisters; Shirley, Jean and Inez. Clayton grew up farming 14 miles northwest of Garrison with his father and mother and attended school through the 8th grade.

Clayton joined the United States Air Force in 1956 and served 20 years, retiring in 1976 at Minot AFB, ND. He retired as a Tech Sergeant and served two tours in Viet Nam. He was stationed at various bases overseas and in the United States.

Clayton married Dodie Romero on December 30th, 1961. They adopted a son, John Gehring, in March 1966 in Las Vegas, NV. Dodie passed away from a heart condition on May 11th, 1969. Clayton remarried to Sylvia (Marquez) Gehring on November 1st, 1972 and they shared 42 years of happiness together. They had three more children together; Brian, David and Rebecca.

Following his service in the military, Clayton and Sylvia began farming with Clayton's father Alex 2 miles from his childhood farm. He farmed until 1987. He also began carrying the mail on a rural mail route in and around Douglas, ND and worked for 30 years for the postal service, including serving as Postmaster of the Douglas post office for 7 years. He retired in 2009 and moved to Albuquerque, NM in 2012.

Clayton loved music, especially Polka music. He was known as "The Polka Playing Postman" and his music could be heard from his car as he carried the mail around the North Dakota countryside. In fact, he was featured as one of the 10 most likeable North Dakotans in 2001. He was a talented accordion and piano player and in his youth had played in a polka band. Clayton also loved playing cards, especially whist, pinochle and most of all cribbage. He and his son John played cribbage as often as they could.

Clayton was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion. He was also a member of St. Nicholas church in Garrison, ND and Immaculate Conception church in Max, ND. He also attended church at Sacred Heart church, in White Shield, ND. Clayton was a man of faith and had a strong belief in God. After moving to Albuquerque, NM, he often attended church almost every day.

Clayton is survived by his loving wife of 42 years, Sylvia, and his 4 children, John Gehring (Chandler, AZ), Brian Gehring (Minot, ND), David Gehring (Raleigh, NC) and Rebecca (Gehring) Nielsen (Minot, ND). He has 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Clayton was preceded in death by his parents.