Gunter H. Durdel of Creve Coeur “put the pedal to the medal” and peacefully departed this world on
August 11, 2022. The only child of Erna and Otto, he was born in Felixdorf, Austria in 1944. After arriving
to America by boat in 1955, he became a US citizen—a status that gave him immense pride. So much so,
he changed the pronunciation of his last name from its original intonation of Durdle (rhymes with turtle)
to what he thought was the more American sounding, Dur-dell. After three years in the army, he
obtained an engineering degree from St. Louis University followed by, many years later, a Master’s
degree in international business from Webster University. In the early 1970s, he joined the St. Louis
Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) as a civil engineer. He stayed with MSD his entire career till he took
early retirement to live his best life doing the things he loved.
And Gunter loved many things, most notably; football on Sundays; reading books on the beach; going to
a movie up the street; playing golf; striving to take the perfect photo; riding his motorcycle—which he
affectionately called his “scooter”; acquiring the latest gadget; reading the morning paper; Busch beer
or really any beer; collecting watches, he had a gazillion; amassing bags or gear to carry stuff, all
kinds—enough to fill a closet. In fact, the man never met a watch or bag he didn’t like or buy and then
give away. That’s another thing he enjoyed, giving his stuff away.
Gunter lived 22 years with Parkinson’s disease. During these years, he’d celebrate the disease’s
progressive milestones with tattoos; like getting a computer power button on his forearm days before
his deep brain stimulation surgery. This humor or what he called his “good attitude” kept him going
strong and entertained the many people, nurses, doctors, and caretakers he encountered. Gunter is
survived by his wife, Angelica; daughter, Elizabeth (Charles); stepdaughters, Deirdre (Bob), Andrea
(Justus), and Alexa (Jerry); and grandkids, Ireland, Luka, and Charlize, Michael (Kara) and Jared, Magnus,
and Sophia and Cora.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Parkinson’s foundation at parkinson.org. A celebration of
Gunter’s life will be held on October 15 from 11 to 4 at the Old Orchard Gallery in Webster Groves.

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