Beaverton, OR – Gary Richard Klungness, of Beaverton, OR, passed away rather suddenly on March 17, 2024. He was known as a good athlete in Thief River Falls throughout high school and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1962. Gary played football, baseball, and ran track all four years of high school. He played centerfield in the Minnesota State baseball tournament as a freshman, and was part of the 220-yard relay team that went to the MN State High School Track and Field Championship for a couple of years. He played American Legion Baseball for a couple of years and played on the Thief River Falls Thieves team from 1959 to 1963. He also played basketball and ice hockey for two years (he preferred hockey).
After high school, Gary attended North Dakota State University for one term on a track scholarship before transferring to Concordia College, where he played hockey all four years. He graduated from Concordia in 1966.
A few years after graduating college, Gary moved with his wife Ellen and daughter Greta to Europe and lived in England and Spain before settling in Zurich, Switzerland, where he lived for 45 years until 2022.
He stayed active his entire life and while he was still able to do so, he started each morning with 50 push-ups and ran 10k multiple times a week. He was also an avid downhill skier and hiker.
Gary was predeceased by his wife Ellen in 2021 which prompted him to move back the USA to be closer to his daughter and grandchildren in 2022.
He is survived by his daughter, Greta Klungness of Beaverton, OR; and grandchildren, Kai Paasch and Cora Paasch, also of Beaverton, OR.
A celebration of life honoring Gary will take place on Saturday, July 20, 2024, from 12-4 p.m. at Surly Brewing, 520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Light food and refreshments will be served.
Gary Klungness, 79
