Kurt J. Kaspar

COTTAGE GROVE – Kurt Junior Kaspar, age 93, of Cottage Grove, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, January 8, 2022, surrounded by his loving children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild. The eternal God is now his dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms (Duet. 33:27). He was born on January 19, 1928, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, to Kurt and Ruby (Braff) Kaspar. Kurt’s early education occurred in a small two-room Lutheran school in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where he became grounded in his Christian faith. He later attended Madison East High School where he was Captain of the golf team and spent many an hour with his life-long friend Don Amacher playing on the Monona Golf Course across the street from his parent’s home on Monona Drive. Kurt graduated from high school in 1946 and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison majoring in accounting and graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Due to the ongoing Korean War and to avoid being drafted, he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1951 and attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. When applying for the officer candidate school, he was initially told they had no openings since he had majored in accounting and they didn’t need any more supply type officers. They needed men to run ships. In his senior year of college, Kurt had taken a course in navigation in the Astronomy Department. After convincing them that he already knew how to navigate, he was given an application to take an exam in Chicago, which he passed. Upon completion of the course he received a commission as “Ensign” in the United States Navy and was assigned to duty on-board the aircraft carrier USS Windham Bay (CVE-92) in February 1952 in San Francisco, California. Later, while the ship was in port undergoing maintenance and repairs for damage received, Kurt was sent to another school for seamanship and ship-handling training in San Diego, California. Following he received a promotion to LT(jg) and became a qualified “Officer-of-the-Deck” Underway and Navigator, which he was engaged in daily while at sea. The officer-of-the-deck is a unique position, having total responsibility for and complete control of the ship while underway and is subordinate only to the Captain when he is on the Bridge, which was not often. The Windham Bay was a small (jeep) aircraft carrier which was engaged in ferrying aircraft (primarily air force fighter planes such as the F-86 Sabre Jet) to Yokosuka, Japan for use in Korea during the height of the war. The ship also transported P-51 Mustangs to Formosa on President Chiang Kai-shek’s birthday, as well as to other major ports in Manila, Philippine Islands and Bangkok, Thailand. At one point while in Hong Kong, the crew was ordered to cross the Bay and go into Kowloon on mainland China during the height of the war and pick up a large aircraft that the World Court had awarded to the USA. They did so quickly and it was the only time they wore side-arms while on-board ship. In roughly two years, the Windham Bay crossed the Pacific Ocean 20 times, each one-way trip constituting about 5,000 nautical miles. During this time they encountered almost everything one can imagine at sea: gigantic storms, immense seas, tropical cruise conditions, near collisions, convoys, fantastic sea creatures (whales, sharks, porpoises, manta rays, man-of-war jelly fish), and swimming in waters that were roughly 38,000 feet deep off the Philippine Islands. Kurt’s final year of service was spent in Tacoma, Washington at the Tacoma Naval Station where they nurse-maided 35 moth-balled jeep carriers. Kurt joined the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in 1956 as a corporation field auditor, auditing the largest companies operating in Wisconsin for income, franchise, sales and use taxes. These included oil companies, paper making companies, insurance companies, trucking companies, manufacturing companies and retail companies, primarily to determine the amount of their income attributable to Wisconsin. During the course of these activities, Kurt studied for and passed the exam to become a Certified Public Accountant. Over the course of nearly 40 years with the department, he spent about 10 years as an auditor and the balance as a supervisor or administrator of various other units. He concluded work with the department as Director of Administrative Technical Services and finally as Chief of Field Audit Section for Income, Franchise, Sales and Use taxation covering the audit staff for the entire State of Wisconsin and those offices locate outside of Wisconsin that were involved in the auditing of the largest multi-state corporations, unitary business, insurance companies and Subchapter-S Corporations. In 1993, Kurt retired from the Department of Revenue at the age of 65, but continued with tax work for another 11 years by working for about 2-1/2 months during tax season each year with a Madison-based bookkeeping and accounting firm (partially originated by fellow East High graduate, Robert Tormey) preparing income tax returns. In 1966, Kurt married the light of his life, Joyce Welker. They lived in Monona, Wisconsin and had two children, Patricia Kay and Kurt Jay. In 1999, they moved from Monona to Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. They shared in many activities over the years, including snow skiing and especially UW Badger sports, having season tickets for football, basketball and hockey, and traveling for 30 years with their RV group to out-of-town UW Badgers football as well as many hockey tournaments. Kurt was recently recognized as one of the top 100 longest-standing UW Badgers season ticket holders. He was also an avid golfer playing the game until he was nearly 90 years old. In December of 2011, Joyce passed away after a long battle with cancer. Kurt was by her side the entire way and their commitment to living life to the fullest kept them going through it all. As a widower, he simply tried to enjoy every day and played as much golf as possible while continuing to live in his home. Kurt’s children and grandchildren were committed to keeping him independent and worked hard to see that he had all the resources needed to thrive right up until the day the Lord called him home. A special thanks to Lucas Pierce, his grandson by marriage, who helped to keep Kurt in his home over the last year-and-a-half by spending his weekdays providing support and transportation as needed daily. Kurt is survived by his son, Kurt Jay Kaspar; his daughter, Patricia (Douglas) Ferge; two granddaughters, Katherine (Lucas) Pierce and Abigail Ferge; one great-grandchild, Peyton Pierce; niece, Susan (William) Wickemeyer; nephews, James (Mary Carol) Bradham and Michael (Laura) Bradham; and many wonderful great-nieces and nephews. He is also survived by brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, James (Jeanene) Welker, Lois (Darrell) Wittwer, Clinton (Nyla) Welker and their extended families. He was preceded in death by his father, Kurt Kaspar (1905-1980) and his mother, Ruby Kaspar (1903-1985); father and mother-in-law, Floyd and Veva Welker; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. A funeral service will be held at EASTSIDE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 2310 Independence Lane, Madison, on Friday, January 14, 2022, at 11 a.m., with the Reverend Nathan Berg presiding. Burial will be at Roselawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Monona, with military rites being conducted. Visitation will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, on Thursday, January 13, 2022, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. and at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Friday. Memorials may be made to Eastside Evangelical Lutheran Church. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Care 5203 Monona Drive (608) 221-5420