Remembering Gary…by Guy Albertson

On Saturday, July 13, I was in Croatia about to go kayaking in the Mediterranean. Previously in the week I was Running with the Bulls in Pamplona with a couple of friends. While I was getting ready to go, my
sister Jodi called me to tell me that our father had passed away about an hour before. I looked to see if I could find an earlier flight back to the States, but there were none available.

Gary Duane Albertson was born on March 7, 1941, and on July 13, 2024, he passed away in his sleep due to heart failure. For the past 45 years he has been the "newspaper man" for the town of Cook, Orr, and surrounding areas. My father was very committed to his family and his community.

Gary never worked a day in his life once he purchased the newspaper in Cook. Working as a newspaper publisher was not his job… it was his Dream! He was able to live it every day. I would ask him when he was going to retire and his response was, "Why, what would I do?" If there was an event going on in Cook / Orr or the neighboring communities, he was always there to cover the events. For the longest time he personally covered every football, basketball and volleyball game, school board, city council meeting – anything that was happening that would affect the area. I would call my parents every weekend and I would always hear about how the local teams were doing, when Timber Days was occurring, graduation at the schools, etc. He was very proud of the community and felt it was his responsibility to cover all the news and make sure it was published in the newspaper.

Gary instilled values of honor and integrity in us. There was a time, prior to taking the Cook paper, when he would work three jobs: one during the day, one at night and one on the weekend. He was going to
make sure he could fulfill his responsibilities. I remember I asked him once, "You support Trump because he is supposedly a good businessman, but he filed for bankruptcy six times. How come you didn't do that with
the Supper Club?" He said, "I pay my bills and my debts." End of story. As I headed out into the Mediterranean in the kayak, I thought about him and growing up in northern Minnesota. In the summer, we spent almost every weekend in a canoe on one of the lakes fishing or exploring. He loved the outdoors in northern Minnesota. I watched my friend who was in the front of the kayak paddling and thought, oh man, Dad would be yelling at her — "Terrible technique." I couldn't help but smile and think that he is up there watching us right now.

Gary is survived by wife Edna; children Guy and Jodi (Warren); grandchildren Isaiah, Gabrielle, Olivia and Zoe; his four siblings: Myrna (Larry), Jimmy (Jean), Ginger (Dale), and Cindy (Fred). My father said he didn't want to have a funeral when he died, instead he always told us to have a party. He wanted to live and celebrate life.

About a month ago, all his children, grandchildren, along with several people who were close friends came out to the house and he was able to participate in his party. One of the highlights, he was able to go out on a pontoon on Lake Vermilion and he smiled the entire day. It is typically a sad event when someone passes away, but when Gary passed on he did it on his own terms. He always said he would pass at home on Lake Vermilion, while still being the publisher of the Cook News-Herald, which is exactly what he did. I'm very proud of my father. I think he instilled values in us that have helped us succeed in life. Writing this column today has been extremely difficult. There are so many stories and so much that could be written. Unfortunately, he is not with me to critique and have me rewrite, so I apologize for anything left out or missing.

For the past 45 years, the readers of this newspaper gave purpose to Gary Albertson and were part of his family and community. I would like to Thank all of you for the support you have given him over these years.
I will miss his voice.

There will be a Celebration of Life on September 7, 2024, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Cook MN. Visitation will start at 10:30am followed by the service at 11:00am; a reception will follow at a location yet to be determined. A spring 2025 memorial will be held in Minneapolis, MN and will be announced.