Jon Geldert

Jon had many health problems throughout his life starting when he was a baby. He had many surgeries including a kidney transplant, had many times in the hospital and did dialysis for a year and a half in his 30’s. But despite it all, he had a wonderful life.

Jon was a great husband, uncle, brother, son and cat dad.

Jon was a true Minnesota, Twin Cities guy. He was born and raised in Mpls. He lived his adult years in the northern suburbs. He was a huge Minnesota sports fan, cheered his beloved Twins on to 2 World Series titles, fiercely supported his Minnesota Vikings, ever hoping for that elusive Superbowl win and was saddened when his North Stars moved to Dallas.

Jon and I became friends as teenagers, were a couple for over 38 years and married for over 31 years. Jon was a very caring and protective husband to me, ever watchful for any harm that could come my way. Jon and I did everything together as a team. Everyday things like shopping, cooking, chores and exciting things like trips to see the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Graceland, the Statue of Liberty, the Las Vegas strip, Niagara Falls and the Football Hall of Fame. Name any rock group from the 80’s and 90’s and we had probably seen them in concert at least once. Jon and I did the annual Humane Society Walk for Animals for over 30 years, raising thousands of dollars to help the animals. We also volunteered for the National Kidney Foundation.

Jon doted on his nieces and nephews. They have wonderful memories of him taking them to baseball games, Valleyfair, picnics and to see Santa Claus. He even played Santa Claus years ago for the older nieces and nephew.

Jon loved animals. Over the years, we had 3 cats, they were his “little buddies” each in their own way.

Jon worked most of his years in the document management field, first microfilming documents and then as technology advanced scanning documents. He worked a short time in the early 90’s at Zubaz (yes, the striped pants company) and what he loved about that time was he got to get discounted Zubaz’s for the family and meet some famous athletes.

Jon loved to bake sweets for family and friends. Jon took culinary arts classes and won many ribbons for his cakes, cookies and bars at the County fair and State fair.

Jon loved to do trivia and play games, especially the card game 500. Some of Jon’s superpowers included being the human calculator (able to add numbers quickly in his head) and being able to identify the make/model/year of any 1970’s muscle car simply by looking at the head and taillights.

Friends and family remember Jon’s quick wit.

Jon was ever grateful for the kidney transplant he received in May 1999 from a deceased donor. Jon always wanted to repay this gift in some way. Sadly, Jon passed away suddenly in the spring of 2022. Jon was a donor on his driver’s license and things came full circle and Jon became the donor instead of the recipient. We are told that by donating his corneas he was able to give the gift of sight to 2 people. Our hope is with Jon’s gift that they are now able to see a beautiful sunset and see the faces of those they love.