Obituary of Gary Toenjes

It is with sadness we announce the death of Gary F. Toenjes on January 11 at the age of 82. Carol's husband of 56 years, the father of Susan (Robert) Steege and Richard (Carla) Toenjes, the Boppa to Kate (Bret) Franzen, Caroline (Mark) Dennis and to Julia and Jackson Toenjes, and Great Boppa to Ben. Gary was a lifelong St. Paul resident, the youngest of 7 kids, and is survived by Ginger Kojetin of St. Paul and Richard Toenjes of AZ. Gary had three driving passions in his life—first and foremost FAMILY, nothing was more important than building a close, loving family headed by a truly loving husband and wife which he and Carol were. Next was TRAVEL, they visited all 50 states, enjoyed trips to Russia, Egypt, China, Mexico and Europe, together, and as a family. The last of his passions was MOTORCYCLING, as a member of the 3M Cycle Club, forming St Croix Valley Riders (the largest motorcycle rights group in MN), and traveling to Sturgis for 15 years with friends. He and Carol enjoyed trips as a pair and with good friends. Gary graduated from the U of M in '63 with a BChemE, and spent 32 interesting years at 3M—Research, Purchasing, Chem Sales, and finally Mktg. Dir. Of Corporate Research—-retiring at age 55. Gary's motto was "Don't live to work, but work to live". He and Carol crammed as much living as they could in those 56 glorious years together. There will be a private celebration of life by invitation at a later date.