Gordon"Gordy" Dean Kaasa

Gordon Dean Kaasa, 64, of Puposky, MN, passed away on July 10, 2026, at Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys Campus, after a four-year fight with cancer. He passed peacefully with his wife and children by his side.

Funeral Services will be 2:00 p.m., Friday, July 17, 2026 at Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home, Bemidji. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Thursday, July 16, 2026 at Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home and one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Interment will be in Island Lake Cemetery, Puposky.

Gordy was born in Bemidji, MN, on September 27, 1961, to Arlak and Helen (Sweney) Kaasa. He graduated from Bemidji High School in 1980. After graduating high school, he went on to East Grand Forks Community College for diesel mechanics, soon finding out that school wasn’t for him. Over the next few years, he spent time logging with his brother Gary in Montana and carrying on with the neighbor boys around Puposky and Nebish. He later moved to Dallas, Texas, to be with the love of his life, Doon. After a year in the big city, it was time to move his young family back home to Puposky, where he spent the rest of his life.

After settling back home, he worked as a mechanic, logger, and truck driver until purchasing his first log truck in 1988 and starting Kaasa Hauling. On August 18, 1990, he married Donna Maye Skyberg at Our Redeemer’s Church in Puposky.

Much of the ’90s was spent as a family hanging out with the Hami’s crew, either out on the wheeler trails, in Bailey’s Shed, or at Hami’s Bar & Grill. This time created some of the fondest memories he and his family have to this day.

After his boys left the house, he started to focus more on work, adding a small logging operation to his wood hauling and getting Dustin into trucking before parking his own truck to go to work for Red Lake Builders in 2009.

In 2009, he received his first laptop computer and was introduced to the Internet and Craigslist. Checking for the deal of the week online soon became one of his daily routines. His favorite part of finding a good deal was going to pick it up. He often liked to purchase things that needed work, and if it was a vehicle, it probably didn’t run or drive. Over the years, he collected many old cars that were his pride and joy. They weren’t perfectly restored, but to him, they didn’t need to be.

Gordy enjoyed riding snowmobiles and four-wheelers, deer hunting, fishing, and even yard work, as long as he could be outside. Later in life, tinkering on his old cars became his favorite pastime. He also enjoyed the time he spent with his three grandchildren.

Gordy will be remembered as a hardworking man who loved being outside, spending time with family and friends, and tinkering on the old cars that brought him so much joy. He had a way of making memories wherever he went, whether on the trails, in the shop, or gathered with the people he loved most.

He is survived by his wife, Donna; children, Matthew (Ashtyn) Skyberg and Dustin (Alicia) Kaasa; and granddaughters, Maci Kaasa, Emma Skyberg, and Ellie Skyberg.

He is also survived by his siblings, Sid Kaasa, Ginger (Steven) Johnson, Arlen “Pete” Kaasa, and Ivan (Pam) Kaasa; and goddaughters, Kaasandra Kaasa and Hailey Lundquist.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Gary, and infant sister Kathy.

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