Obituary of Masayuki Kasahara
Masayuki Kasahara, M.D. FACP
March 2, 1932 – July 10, 2023
Kasahara, Masayuki (91), long time resident of Golden Valley, Minnesota, passed away peacefully on July 10, 2023. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 58 years, Hiroko. He is survived by his older son Hisanao and his wife Sue, along with their children Grace (Justin), Sophie (Spencer), Isaac, and Ben; and younger son Yoshifumi and his wife Shelley, along with their children Andrew (Brontë and daughter Juliet Hiroko), Alyssa, Stephen, and Leighton.
Born in Shizuoka, Japan to Etsuji and Fumi, he graduated from Keio University School of Medicine in 1956. He received an M.D. and Fulbright travel grant to the United States to study medicine. He completed his medical residency at Chesapeake and Ohio Hospital in Clifton Forge, Virginia. He spent five years doing research, most of which was at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, Hiroshima, Japan, where he met his beautiful wife, Hiroko. He spent several years teaching and working in sales for a medical device company, until his passion for medicine brought him to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he met Daphne Krause and learned of her vision for Minneapolis Aged Opportunity, a non-profit home care agency. Because this idea to help the elderly and disabled as a not for profit really resonated with him, he worked at MAO for the rest of his career. He was a lifelong learner who loved to teach. He was an author of a book on healthcare and wrote many pamphlets focusing on preventing injuries. He also loved passing on his knowledge and experience to residents at the University of Minnesota, doctors from Japan, and at medical seminars.
Masayuki, affectionately called “Kas” was a compassionate and gifted physician. He had a lifelong passion to help people that extended well beyond his practice to all who crossed his path.
He loved his family, delicious food, and studying medicine. You could always find him smoking his pipe on the porch and discussing philosophy with his grandchildren. He also loved to watch Japanese television and spend time with his family laughing and telling stories. He will be remembered for the joy he brought to gatherings, his thought provoking and inspirational ideas, and his amazing generosity.
