Gary L. Sabo

Gary Lynn Sabo, 76, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday April 11, 2026, surrounded by his family.
Gary was born on March 7th, 1950, to Oscar and Mardella Sabo in Thief River Falls, MN where the family resided throughout his childhood. Gary graduated from Lincoln High School in 1968.  He then moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he lived with his brother Denny and where be began his welding career. On September 12, 1970, Gary married Ione Kasprick.  They had three wonderful daughters:  Angie, Kelly, and Terra.   Gary’s company closed in June of 1972 and they moved to Minneapolis where he was employed by Ryerson Steel.  He then began working for Bobco Inc. owned by his cousin Bob Nelson.  They did masonry and concrete work as well as plowing snow in the winter. The two of them were a force to be reckoned with. They were either working hard or playing extra hard.  Ohh the stories they could tell.  He then began working at DeBourgh  Mfg which also closed. He then went to work for Schwing America Inc. located in White Bear Lake, Mn. Schwing Produces truck mounted with concrete pumps as well as boom trucks. Gary was able to enjoy traveling to St. Steffens, Austria to teach the German side of the manufacturing. Ione was lucky enough to be able to accompany him on this trip. It amazed him that at lunch break they all had beer in their lunch box.  He thought that was the greatest.  
Gary was a welder like none other. Give him a project or something to build and he could make it or fix it. He built street legal dune buggy’s, which the family would all in enjoy by taking many road trips with friends. He also  built a Go-Cart and an off road Dune Buggy with roll bars and the mission was to see who could get dirtier. He was a mechanic for the girls and their cars.  This could have meant major repairs or may have meant welding a beer can to a muffler, welding bumpers back on cars, teaching them how to change their oil, check their tire pressure and you better know where the oil dipstick is. The payment for his services was a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Gary was the referee between the girls and their mother.  If the girls didn’t like mom’s answer they would go to Dad.  His typical answer would be “Whatever Mom Said”.  He was a great husband (most of the time) and father. He worked extremely hard to support his family to provide their whims; gymnastics, ice skating, band, as well as multiple activities and family vacations.

Gary had made a great number of friends at  Schwing. The “boys” would go on various fishing and camp trips.  HMMM, but not a lot of fish were ever brought home. He also enjoyed fishing with family, grandkids, and the once a year trip with the “Old Farts”.
As time went on, Gary and Ione did a lot of traveling with their family as well as with their wonderful friends, Mike and Gayle.  They traveled to amazing places such as Greece, Aruba, Costa Rica, Europe, Mexico, cruised the Panama Canal and many more fun adventures as well as picking up their new grandson in Guatemala. You never knew where they were going.  He enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest in many ways.

Gary Is survived by his wife, Ione, of 55 years and daughters, Angie (Craig) Suter, Kelly Lerom and Terra Sabo.  Grandchildren, Alex Samlaska, Alicia Samlaska, Blake Samlaska (Kenley), Jack Samlaska, Samuel Lerom, Kirsten (Chad) Reswik, Hailey Hoskins, and Jordan (Noah) Evans
Sister, Sherry (Bill) Berlowitz, Brother David (Vicky) Sabo, as well as many nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents Oscar and Mardella Sabo, Sisters Judy Bruggeman, Myra Garriott, and Brothers Dennis, Orlon and Loren Sabo.
Gary was one of a kind, was loved by all and will be missed by many.