Bert McKasy, who served three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, died in his Mendota Heights home on Feb. 8 of colon cancer.
He was 77.
“He was truly a St. Paul icon,” said Matt Kramer, vice president of university relations of the University of Minnesota, in a tweet.
In addition to his work in the state Legislature, McKasy was the commissioner of the state Department of Commerce, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Airports Commission and chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger.
In business, he served as the board chairman of Mairs & Power Mutual Funds, and as a director of UCare, Lec Tec Corp., Northstar Ice Equipment Corp. and the American National Bank of Minnesota.
McKasy was also a former board chairman of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.
He graduated from St. Thomas Military Academy, the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota School of Law.
As an attorney, he was a retired partner of Lindquist & Vennum, which is now Ballard Spahr.
When he was in second grade at St. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul, he met his future wife, Carolyn Dieveney.
She said that after McKasy was featured in a Pioneer Press story about hospice care Dec. 30, batches of letters and emails came in from people who had come in contact with him.
“We were hearing from people from back in high school,” said Carolyn McKasy. “They wrote to say how much he had done for them.”
Many times, she said, he couldn’t even remember them — because he was kind-hearted without thinking about it.
“He was giving of himself, although he never saw it that way,” Carolyn McKasy said. “I don’t even know if he thought it was special — it was natural for him.”
Accolades have flooded in on Twitter, from leaders including former Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer. Longtime friend Tom Horner wrote: “He was what every person should aspire to be — decent, unquestioned integrity, and passionate about his family and faith.”
In his final days, said his wife, McKasy worked on writing his own obituary.
“He was going over it with the kids,” she said. “He died in his own home, a peaceful death.
“It was perfect.”
In addition to his wife, McKasy is survived by children Kristi Hykes, Mark McKasy, Liz O’Brien and Shannon Kroon, and 10 grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at O’Halloran & Murphy Funeral Home, 575 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul. A funeral Mass is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday at Church of the Assumption, 51 W. Seventh St., St. Paul.
Memorials may be sent in lieu of flowers to St. Thomas Academy, 949 Mendota Heights Road, Mendota Heights, 55120 or to Our Lady of Peace Hospice, 2076 St. Anthony Ave., St. Paul, 55104.