David L. Kasten

David Lyle Kasten passed away on May 11, 2023 at Marshfield Medical Center-Weston after a long illness.  He was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Wausau on October 22, 1939, son of the late Hattie (Borchardt) Kasten and Leonard Kasten.  He was united in marriage with Gene (Hofmeister) Kasten on November 26, 1960 at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Schofield, where Dave was a lifelong member. 

Hattie was a wonderful mother, but money was tight. As a young boy, he helped the family by picking night-crawlers at dawn and selling them to fisherman at the Schofield Dam. A 1958 tribute to graduating seniors on his high school basketball team noted his motto was “give it all you’ve got-and then some.”  It was a credo he followed all his life. 

He also followed the Green Bay Packers.  He attended the 1957 dedication of Lambeau Field (then called City Stadium), and ten years later he and his younger brother Kenny drove to Green Bay after meeting at church Sunday morning, and correctly deciding that the brutal cold would inspire a less courageous ticket holder to part with tickets for what is now known as the Ice Bowl.  He joyfully celebrated the Packers’ return to glory in the 1990s.

He excelled in football, track and basketball at D.C. Everest High School.  He played for the Evergreens’ legendary football coach Howie Stiehm, who taught him about perseverance and excellence.  When his son started as a freshman at D.C. Everest in 1976, Dave still held the school records for touchdown receptions and the long jump. Dave also won the senior class decathlon, proudly besting excellent athletes like his friends Jim Vollenweider (who went on to play running back in college and in pro football in the NFL and CFL)  and Clay Schulz (who went to play at Notre Dame). Howie Stiehm had a great team in 1957.  After high school, Dave played city league basketball (until age 56) on teams that included his former D.C. Everest basketball teammate Dick Green, and other long time friends. 

While in high school, Dave fell in love with cars. A 1956 newspaper article reports that when the basketball team’s bus stalled on a road trip to Park Falls and “adults in the party were unable to get it started,” the adults remembered that Dave was a mechanic; he fixed it and got them home.  He met Gene Hofmeister  in 1958 when he was being treated for a track leg injury in the hospital, and their first date was a Buddy Holly concert at the Rothschild Pavilion, which, some 60 years later, Dave recalled as “loud and rocking.”

After graduating from Wausau Vocational School in 1960, he worked in auto repair for the late Frank Savino, who taught him much.  Dave opened his own gas station and repair shop in 1962 on Grand Avenue in Schofield.  In the 1970s, he expanded to selling used cars.   He secured a Subaru franchise in 1980, and moved his business, now known as Dave Kasten Motors, to 1810 Schofield Avenue, adding a Volvo dealership in 1982. Dave had come a long way from selling night crawlers.  He took great pride in selling quality vehicles and serving his customers well. In his years with Subaru and Volvo, he and Gene enjoyed travel to conventions in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Sweden and Denmark. His brother Kenny, who worked with him from the beginning, passed away in 2011, which devastated him. He sold his business in January 2012, and he and Gene began spending their winters in Biloxi, Mississippi, where they enjoyed restaurants and concerts after a lifetime of long hours devoted to work. During his illness over the last two years, Dave  dreamed of returning to Biloxi, but is in an even better place now.  

He is survived by his wife Gene, son Dan (Gayle), granddaughter Sara Kasten, grandson Sam Kasten, sister in law Georgianna Thompson (whose son Todd and his wife Debbie have helped Dave and Gene as Dave’s health failed), brother James (Judi) Kasten, sister Bonnie (Lyle) Nass, sister in law Diane Kasten, many more nieces, nephews and other relatives, and his beloved Doberman puppy Amore. Dave was preceded in death by his brother Kenneth, his sister Arletta Kamke and her husband Merlyn, and his brother in laws Howard Hofmeister, Rick Ladin and Terry Thompson.  

Dave was a lifelong member of St Peters at 1351 S. Grand Avenue, Schofield, where services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 22, 2023, with visitation to start at 10:00 a.m.  Burial will be for immediate family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St Peters, the Humane Society or the charity of your choice.