Herman J. Kashmarek

Herman, age 75 of Corcoran.

Survived by wife Alice; children Terri Jaskowick (Dean), Ed Kashmarek, Deb (Dana) Schiller & Cara (Mike) Hotchkiss; grandchildren, Jacob, Justin, Kaitlin, Marissa, Jadin, Josh, Sara, Malina & Autumn; siblings Ken (Mary) Kashmarek, Karolyn Gerard, Linda (Mike) Forbrook, Leo (Teri) Kashmarek & Brian Kashmarek.

Preceded in death by parents Martin and Clara Kashmarek.

We have many fond memories of our father. He would come home from work, drop everything and give us all a BIG hug. He would do this thing where he would turn his back on us and grab himself with his arms around his back to make it look like he was being hugged by someone else, and he would say "Kissy face & huggy bod!!" and make smooching noises. It was pretty funny! He made pancakes or waffles or French toast with Mom on Saturday mornings for us while we sat and watched morning cartoons, and every morning began by giving Mom a kiss. Most mornings he would come into the kitchen and sing the song “Good morning, good morning, the best to you each morning. Good morning, good morning, to you”, then do a little dance. Dad helped us a lot with our homework, and he encouraged us all to learn how to type, which we did on our massive electric typewriter! Dad also had a way of playing with words, twisting them to make a new word or phrase, like calling a playwright a playwrong, or wondering why there was a sport called football but no sport called armball. Those are lame examples, his were much better! Dad was always one to reel us into playing a game of cards - rummy most of the time - or once in a while slap jack, war, or euchre, and of course cribbage. On family fun nights we would all play Tripoli (like poker), and when we were really little we would watch slides of vacations and other things on the big pull-down screen and record our voices on the big tape recorder. We also had what we called a “picnic in the living room”, where we would have things like BLTs, cheese, crackers, pickles and all kinds of fun little eats. Dad also rubbed his feet together all the time, which just cracked us up!

Speaking of feet, he would give us rides on his feet when we were kids, standing in the hallway to prop himself up and swinging his leg with a child sitting on his foot and hanging on for dear life! Dad taught us all how to garden, and he even had a published article written about him on an invention he made for making garden rows! He was involved in helping us grow veggies and enter them into 4-H at the county fair. Dad was also a world class handyman, he could literally fix anything, especially cars! Dad would give the kids and grandkids rides on his lawn tractor and later on his go-cart. He really loved his grandkids - always showing up at school events for them, taking them to his cabin, or just coming up with things to keep them entertained - like carving out huge people figures out of Styrofoam at the cabin! Dad loved to make and eat ice cream. Yes, we made our own homemade ice cream on family nights! He also really liked beer, and would let his kids have a little taste. Shhhhh!

After a stroke early on in life, Dad grew deep into his faith, and it became something that drove him to be a better person, and to share it with his family. To this day all of his children are still practicing Catholics, so he definitely influenced us to keep the faith. We know Dad is now resting in the arms of Jesus. It’s pretty hard not to believe this of a man who said “Praise the Lord” several times a day, at the end of every phone conversation, at the beginning of every meal and at every goodbye. On his last goodbye, we say to Dad: “Praise the Lord! You are in Heaven now! Rest in peace dear father!” PTL!

Mass of Christian Burial 11 AM Monday, Oct 2 at the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, 20000 Cty.  Rd. 10, Corcoran, MN.

Visitation at church one hour before Mass.

Interment St Thomas Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Sharing and Caring Hands.

Interment St. Thomas Cemetery.

Monday, October 2, 2017 10:00 AM

The Church of St. Thomas the Apostle 20000 County Road 10, Corcoran, MN

Monday, October 2, 2017 11:00 AM

The Church of St. Thomas the Apostle 20000 County Road 10, Corcoran, MN

Interment St. Thomas Cemetery.