Gregory Proper Obituary

Gregory "Greg" Paul Proper, was born May 27, 1955, to Susan Josephine (Stanek) Proper and Leslie Demorn Proper in Little Falls. Greg was welcomed by a sister, Karen, and a brother, Leslie.

Greg's father died in 1960, and Greg's mother ran the family business, Leslie Proper Plumbing and Heating, for another 20 years with the help of Greg's uncle, Stanley Proper. Much of Greg's childhood was centered around helping his mother, spending time with extended family and enjoying outdoor adventures with friends.

Greg graduated from Little Falls High School with the Class of 1973. He furthered his education at St. Cloud State College and at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, graduating with a bachelor of civil engineering degree with distinction in 1977.

While attending high school and college, he worked for the Morrison County Highway Department and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. He began his engineering career as an assistant county highway engineer for Todd County in 1977 and for Cass County in 1979. He received his registration as a professional civil engineer in 1982.

Shortly after moving to Walker, Greg met Juliane Holte, a local elementary special education teacher. They dated for two years before marrying on Aug. 1, 1981 at Walker, and were blessed with nearly 44 years of marriage. They shared a love of the out-of-doors, the challenges of developing several successful businesses, and the joys of raising seven golden retrievers.

In 1986 Greg resigned from the Cass County Highway Department to begin his career as a technology business entrepreneur. With the advent of personal desk-top computers in the early 1980s, Greg began developing a computer program to automate rural highway design.

He wrote computer code to design a highway in 10-20 percent of the time required by conventional methods. The Interactive Computer Assisted Highway Design (ICAHD) Program was marketed and sold by Proper Engineering, Inc. to county highway departments across the country for over 10 years.

In 1987 Greg became a founding partner of Pro-West and Associates, Inc., a geographic information systems (GIS) consulting firm that began by using PC ARC/INFO software to automate the management of natural resource inventories, and which today uses emerging technologies to provide GIS solutions to government and private industry across the country.

Greg retired from PWA in 2014.

During his retirement years Greg continued to enjoy his favorite activities of upland bird hunting, traveling with Juliane in their motorhome, boating on Leech Lake, and snowmobiling, biking and canoeing with friends.

He continued to challenge his mind by exploring the world of quantum physics and cosmology, and wrote numerous papers and equations investigating Einstein's Theory of Relativity and other theories that confirmed to him that life and the universe were indeed created by God.

When he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2022, Greg chose to enjoy each day to the fullest while taking treatments that extended his life for another three-plus years. He received expert care at the Joe Lueken Cancer Center in Bemidji and comfort care at St. Joseph's Hospital of Park Rapids, where he passed away Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at the age of 70 years, 1 month and 19 days.

Greg is survived by his wife, Juliane Proper of Walker; sister Karen (Ole) Skinner of Pinedale, WY; brother Leslie (Mary Lou) Proper of New Brighton; brothers-in-law Donald (Karen) Holte and Dale (Christina) Holte of Baudette; an uncle; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Greg was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and several cousins.

Services were held at Hope Lutheran Church of Walker July 25. Inurnment will be at Elm Park Cemetery in Baudette.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Hope Lutheran Church Endowment Fund, PO Box 506, Walker, MN 56484; Walker Area Food Shelf, PO Box 1101, Walker, MN 56484; or Deep Portage Learning Center, 2197 Nature Center Drive NW, Hackensack, MN 56452.

Online condolences for the family may be left at www.northernpeace.com

Greg's care has been entrusted to the Northern Peace Funeral Home of Walker.