Man hit and killed while riding mower on his daily mailbox trip

Routine trip to mailbox turns fatal.

By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune

Last update: September 5, 2009 - 12:06 AM

Wayne Gunderson had a daily routine for picking up his mail. He'd fire up his John Deere riding lawn mower and drive it 100 or so yards to his roadside mailbox in rural Otter Tail County.

When he made the jaunt Thursday afternoon, the 78-year-old retired dairy farmer was killed, struck by a car as he turned the mower around in the road in front of his house.

"He was just doing his routine," said Gunderson's stepson-in-law, Jeff Grabow.

Gunderson's mower was hit by a Pontiac Grand Prix that was eastbound on County Hwy. 40, about 4 miles southeast of the tiny community of Vining, the County Sheriff's Office reported.

"There's just a little rise in the road there -- it's not like it's a clear straightaway," Grabow said. "He apparently didn't see the car coming."

Gunderson died after being taken to a Fargo hospital, the Sheriff's Office said.

The car's driver, Barbara Obowa, 38, of Underwood, Minn., was injured in the crash, according to the office. No charges have been filed.

Until retiring in 1989, Gunderson had been "a dairy farmer nearly all his life," Grabow said. "They sold the home place and moved to where they live now. Man, he enjoyed his retirement."

Gunderson loved hunting, fishing, woodworking, snowmobiling and tending to the 160 acres he held onto. "He didn't want to go south," Grabow said. "He was happy to stay right here."

Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184