Before They Wore Gunter Green, They Wore the Uniform
Meet the Veterans Behind the Gunter Uniform.
Over the past 76 years, we’ve had at least two to four US Military veterans on our team at all times. Right now, we actually only have one existing team member veteran. Today, we’re celebrating the service of our team member of 12 years – Reed Hanks, as well as our 2nd generation president Norman Besheer who passed in 2024 but has a very interesting and important Marines career to acknowledge and remember.
Norman Besheer (2nd generation Gunter president and past employee of 50+ years)
Norman grew up in Kansas City in the Great Depression. At the age of 16, his parents moved to Houston, TX for a job and he stayed behind, finishing high school, working nights at Hallmark Cards and living in a boarding house.
At Central High School (in Kansas City’s urban core) he met his wife Patricia Gunter and was with her until they both died at 96 and 95 years old. Their special high school relationship eventually holds great importance because it connected Norman to the family business (Gunter Pest) that he would co-lead for over than five decades.
Norman’s career as a US Military serviceman began when he enlisted in the Marines in 1946 just out of high school at 17 years old and concluded when he retired as a Major in 1982. In February 1947, he boarded the USS Atlanta, CL-104 (light cruiser) where he spent the next 13 months as an Antiaircraft Machine gunner. World War II was officially over on December 31, 1946. He was on duty during the last four months of this period, so he is considered a veteran of World War II. Norman received the following medals: World War II Victory Medal; China Service Medal; Japanese Occupation Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal.
Twenty years after being discharged from the Marine Corps, 1968, he received a direct commission as a Captain in the US Marine Corps Reserve.
Norman gained two degrees at UMKC – a Bachelor of Arts in history and government with a minor in foreign languages, and a Juris Doctor degree. He went on to practice law for a few decades until 1971 when his father-in-law (Gunter’s founder, his wife’s dad) Reggie Gunter invited him to take over as president of Gunter Exterminating Company – where he worked until the year he passed in Dec 2024 – an over 50 year career.
Thank you for your service, Norman!
Reed Hanks (current team member of 12 years)
Reed joined our team in 2014 and was recently promoted to Senior Technician! This is a high honor on our team and each senior technician trains and leads other less experienced technicians on our team. He graduated from Grandview High School in Grandview, Missouri, in 1993 and then entered the Navy, serving from 1994–1996.
Following his time in the Navy, he studied at Metropolitan Community College-Longview in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
He was deployed on nuclear aircraft carrier ship USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. This historic cruise was part of Operation Uphold Democracy and Operation Deny Flight. It was a groundbreaking deployment because it was the first time the U.S. Navy integrated women into a combatant ship’s permanent crew.
Reed spent a decade in other careers before joining us in 2014, and we’re so grateful to have him on our team!
Thank you for your service, Reed!
In loving memory of Norman Besheer (1928–2024).
