John A. Gurtek, age 76, beloved husband, father, and grandfather passed away after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was married to his high school sweetheart Cathi for 56 years.  Together they had 2 children Lisa and Michael. 
 
John started his career as a framing contractor in 1973.  He went on to establish Gurtek Custom Builders Inc. John built 100’s of custom single-family homes in the Twin Cities.  He loved his work and made many friends along the way.
  
John enjoyed all family gatherings and time spent with good friends. Golf followed by an ice-cold beer was one of his favorite pastimes.  Winters were spent in Naples, FL and most recently Palm Springs, CA.  He enjoyed most sports but loved FOOTBALL! He especially, loved watching the UMD Bulldogsfootball games cheering on his grandsons.  Game day was always the best day of the week.  To John, there were two times of the year, football season and waiting for football season. 
 
John was preceded in death by his parents John and Veronica Gurtek, siblings Adeline McCallum, Richard Gurtek, Veronica (Toots) Gurtek, and Barbara Tauer. He is survived by his wife Cathi and daughter Lisa (Michael) Ojile and son Michael (Lindsey) Gurtek and his six grandchildren Jacob Ojile, Joshua Ojile, Zachary Ojile, Nicholas Ojile, Presley Gurtek and newest grandson Bowie Gurtek. 
  
 
A celebration of his beautiful life will be held August 14th at the TPC Twin Cities 11444 Tournament Players Pkwy, Blaine MN 55449.  A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am with visitation 1 hour prior and a luncheon following the service. In John’s honor, in lieu of flowers please donate to The Wounded Warrior Foundation in John’s name. For the service, please copy John’s uniform and dress in your favorite Tommy Bahama styled attire.