Obituary - Gordon K. Durnil, 86, passed away on August 11, 2022. He was born February 20, 1936 to the late James Ray and Ellen Merle (Allen) Durnil. He was a 1960 graduate of Indiana University School of Business with B.S. and the Indiana University School of Law with a J.D. in 1965. He was an attorney for more than 50 years, a Deputy Marion County Prosecutor and a Deputy Indiana Attorney General. He was a campaign manager for Gov. Bob Orr, Sen. Dick Lugar, and others. He served as the Indiana Republican State Chairman from 1981 to 1989 and sat on the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as the United States Chairman of the International Joint Commission. Gordon served as Head of Delegation for the International Joint Commission at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. He was founding board member and chief fund raiser for the building of the Indiana Ronald McDonald House. He was the author of three published books of nonfiction, selected to the Sigma Pi Fraternity (Beta Chapter) Hall of Fame in 2009, and selected as Emmerich Manual High School Alumnus of the Year in 2000. He served as President of the Manual Alumni Association in 1968/69. He was a long-term commissioner on the Indiana State Recount Commission and was named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Governors Bowen, Orr, Daniels and Pence. Gordon was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Lynda (Powell) Durnil, his sister Lucinda (Durnil) Chenoweth, and brothers James F. Durnil and Ray G. Durnil. He is survived by two children Guy S. (Susan) Durnil and Cindy (Mark) Frew, two grandchildren Jeff and Sarah Reed, great-grandchildren Oliver Reed, and Calloway Reed, brother Allen L. Durnil and sister Carol Faye (Durnil) Ayres. Visitation will be at Flanner Buchanan Washington Park East, Wednesday August 17th, from 11-1pm. His funeral will begin at 1pm.

Posted online on August 12, 2022

Published in The Indianapolis Star