Winfred Dallas "Skip" Gunter

Winfred Dallas (Skip) Gunter of Grass Valley, California, died October 21, 2026, at his home following a year long battle with prostate cancer.

He was born August 26, 1935, In Elm Springs , Arkansas, to Benjamin Franklin Gunter and Margaret Ada Kasinger Gunter. He was the last surviving member of his immediate family, which included five brothers, John Clovis, Preston, Kermit, Percy, and Jack, adn two sisters, Hazel Flora, and Shirley Steinle.

He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 61 years, Phoebe P. Wright Gunter of Grass Valley; three children, Catherine Margaret Morris (Jerry) of Salem, Oregon, Timothy S. Gunter of Marysville, Washington, and MarkAlan Gunter (Ashi) of Ennis, Texas; three grandchildren, Jeremy, John, and Ryan; and four great-grandchildren, Malakai, Boez, Asher, and Josiah.

Skip had many occupations over the years, starting out as a young field worker when the family moved to southern California. He then worked at several machine shops over the years along the way. He joined the Army Reserve in 1951 and, in 1952, was found. to be 16 and was honorably discharged. He was drafted into the Army in 1954 and Served until 1956, deployed to Okinawa as part of the army occupation, and continued wit 6 years in the reserves.

When he returned to the States, he applied for and was accepted into a four year machinist apprenticeship program with Aeorjet General of Sacramento. After a layoff, her was hired at Lawrence RadiationLaboratory in Livermore, California. He worked his way to the top an became a Senior Machinist II in four years. He wanted more independence so received his Real Estate License, specializing in land splitting. He and his wife got the property they call the Gunter Ranch. Still having not reached his goal of independence, then he ventured into the stock market and learned the power of compounding. Finally he reached his goal of financial independence. 

With that freedom, came lots of new adventures. and time to improve the Gunter Ranch. Together, he and his wife spent the next fifty years as stewards of the property, building fences, installing solar wells with solar panels, two organic gardens, ponds, and lots of critters. Skip called it Phoebe's Park.

Hobbies included water sports, fishing especially for salmon, and lots of fall color trips that included many hikes into the Sierras and Yosemite backcountry. He had two very memorable trips: one for a month in British Columbia and another taking the boat to Lake Powell for thee weeks. Skip desired no Services and wished for friends and family members to remember the good times and his generosity.