Gordon Kasel

Just past his 87th birthday, Gordy was called home to heaven. He died on August 2, 2026, at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.

A Celebration of Life service for Gordon Kasel, 87, of Granite Falls will take place Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11:00 AM St. Andrew Catholic Church in Granite Falls, MN. 

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 19, 2026 from 5-7:00 PM at  Anderson - TeBeest Funeral Home in Granite Falls and will continue on Thursday starting 9:30 am at St. Andrew Catholic Church. 

Interment will take place at a later date at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Spring Grove, MN.

Gordon (Gordy) Francis Kasel was born July 29, 1939, to Jacob and Leona Kasel of Vermillion, Minnesota. He received his high school diploma from Hastings High School, Hastings, MN, in 1957. He earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Education from Mankato State University. His career teaching business classes spanned 35 years in three school districts - Birmingham High School, Van Nuys, CA; Maynard High School, Maynard, MN; and from Granite Falls High School to Yellow Medicine East High School, Granite Falls, MN.

Coaching tennis (33 years; 24-boys’ tennis; 9-girls’ tennis) was one of Gordy's favorite activities. He had numerous players and teams reach the state tennis tournament and was named MN State High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2001-02. Serving as the yearbook advisor was another of Gordy's after-school activities. He supervised the production of 28 annuals, and when someone needed information about a school-related incident, he would scour the books until he could provide the data to answer the query. He was a stickier for accuracy in those books!

Outside of school, Gordy served on a variety of committees, boards, and as an election official. Terms included time on the Granite Falls Library and Park Boards, the St. Andrew Catholic Church Parish Council, and the Minnesota State University of Mankato Alumni Board. Few people knew that he worked 28 summers dispatching trucks for Green Giant in Montgomery, MN. Peas were a very popular staple at the Kasel household! In addition he “flipped" burgers during the summer at Hardees in Greeley, Colorado while Monica attended graduate school.

Gordy loved to play cards - cribbage, pinochle, canasta, but bridge was his passion. He frequented the senior centers in Granite Falls and Laughlin to play cards and visit with friends. He was always excited to have a bridge date. For ten years, he hosted the Granite Falls Invitational Bridge Tournament. Monica would always remind him to “play nice" whenever he went to play cards as he was quite competitive!

Gordy was a "people person”. Keeping in touch with others was a priority whether on the phone or in person. Out on a walk, at a stop to read the papers at the library, visiting at Granite Ridge or the Care Center, and lately participating in the Building Bridges Choir, he would always return home with “the news" about how his friends were doing. Gordy also loved reading newspapers. He notoriously clipped articles, made numerous copies, and mailed them to friends and relatives.

Gordy was united in marriage to Monica Ike at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Vermillion, MN on November 23, 1979. He was an avid college football and basketball fan. They often visited college and university stadiums while on their vacations. Gordy loved the West, and he and Monica traveled extensively through western states and many national parks. That love brought them to Laughlin, NV where they wintered the last 18 years. He thrived in the warm Nevada winter climate and enjoyed playing cards and nickel poker slot machines, playing one nickel at a time!

Gordy is survived by his wife of 46 years, Monica; along with his brother, Dwain (Mary) Kasel; sisters-in-law, Angie (Monica Granrud) Ike, Tammy (Glenn) Even; and numerous nieces and nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jacob and Leona Kasel; an infant sister, Mary Kasel; brother, Dick Kasel, and his wife, Cay; sister, Diana Vielbig; and parents-in-law, Helmer and Luella lke.

In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a memorial to a charity of your choosing or one of Gordy's special charities, the Gordon F. and Monica I. Kasel Tennis Endowment at Minnesota State University Mankato Foundation, 224 Alumni Foundation Center, Mankato, MN 56001, or the Granite Falls Area Community Foundation, PO Box 143, Granite Falls, MN 56241.

The funeral service will be taped and available to watch on Gordy's obituary page a day after the funeral.