Ron Gilbertson

Ron Gilbertson died Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at his home in rural Montevideo at the age of 72.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, August 24,2026 at 1:00 PM at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Montevideo. Rev. Donald S. McKee will officiate and interment will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery,

Visitation will be held on Sunday, from 5-7:00 PM at Our Savior's Lutheran Church with a prayer service at 6:30 PM. Visitation will continue for one hour before the service at the church.

Ronald Mark Gilbertson was born December 9, 1953, in Montevideo, Minnesota, the son of Roy and Eleanor (Weckhorst) Gilbertson. He grew up in Montevideo and graduated from Montevideo Senior High School in 1971. On July 15, 1972, he was united in marriage to Deborah Boike. Together, they raised three children: Ryan, Dustin, and Tricia.

Ron spent his career as a building contractor, leaving his mark on many construction projects throughout Montevideo and the surrounding area. After many years of working alongside Dale Kleven, Ron set out on his own, establishing Gilbertson Construction in 1997 and later Gilbertson Inc., Gilbertson Properties, and RG Inc., alongside his son, best-friend and business partner, Ryan.
A natural and skilled craftsman, he enjoyed working with his hands and was always building, fixing, tinkering, or finding something that could be made a little better or to his own standards.

Ron was a private person that didn’t want to be noticed for the many acts of generosity within the church and community. He instilled into his family the value in acts of service for others because “that’s what you’re supposed to do”.

Ron was happiest outdoors and especially treasured time spent at the farm and lake with family and his girlfriend Lisa. He could often be found in his garage working on a special project, metal detecting, watching the Minnesota Twins, and spending many hours per week mowing and tending to his rural property. He took great pride in his farm and was always finding ways to improve and beautify the place he called home. He was especially proud of the carefully designed and carved out cart paths in the woods around the property with street signs named after each of his grandchildren.

His children, grandchildren, brothers and Lisa were the joys of his life, and many special memories were made simply spending time together.

Ron is survived by his children, Dustin (Heather) Gilbertson of Apple Valley and Tricia (Cole) Montgomery of Richfield; eight grandchildren, Dane, Sig, and Ryan Montgomery, Alex and Sam Gilbertson, Paige (Connor Barker) Gilbertson, Leah (Jordan) Lehtola, and Garret (Samantha) Rodeberg; six great-grandchildren, Greyson, Laken, Landry, Elijah, Alivea, and Ayla; his girlfriend, Lisa Streich; brothers, Allen (Deb) Gilbertson of Hawick and Lynn (Carol) Gilbertson of St. Michael; former daughter-in-law, Sue Gilbertson; and fourteen nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Eleanor Gilbertson; his son, Ryan Gilbertson; his granddaughter, Hannah Gilbertson ; and his sister, Nancy Ashburn.