Edward John Gasper

Edward John Gasper, age 82, passed away on February 3, 2026, at the McCone County Health Center in Circle, Montana with his loving wife, DeVona, and family at his side. A Funeral Service for Edward will be held at 2 PM, Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at Circle Lutheran Church in Circle. Private family burial occurred at the Gasper Family Ranch.

Edward John Gasper was born on December 29, 1943, in Glendive, Montana to Edward and Ruth (Surges) Gasper. He was the oldest of two boys, with his brother George joining him 4 years later.

Edward grew up on the family ranch southeast of Circle, Montana. He attended school at the Sioux Creek country school until 8th grade and then graduated in 1961 from Circle High School. He attended Montana State College (later renamed Montana State University) in Bozeman and graduated in 1965 with his agricultural degree. While in college in Bozeman, he played baseball for one season and was a member of the ROTC.

After college, Edward returned home to the family ranch to farm and ranch with his father, which he absolutely loved doing. He loved livestock, especially his horses, farming, fishing, and hunting.

In 1973, Ed was introduced to the love of his life, DeVona Hegland, while helping move cows for a neighbor. Dad spent 2 ½ hours on horseback with DeVona, moving cows and won her heart with his only attempt at conversation when he told her, "I'll get the gate." We will forever be grateful to Vonnie Wagner and LaVern, who had broken his leg and needed help with moving cows, and to Mary Jo Hardy for volunteering Mom to help. Mary Jo's husband, Al, asked how it went and Mom told him that it had gone fine. Al asked what Ed had said, and she said he told her that he would get the gate. Al's reply was, "Well, that's a start. If you end up getting married, I'll sing at your wedding." Al did just that when Ed and DeVona were married on June 30, 1974, which was DeVona's parents' wedding anniversary. They were married in the gazebo at Hendrickson Park in Sheyenne, North Dakota.

Edward and DeVona lived on the family ranch. They adopted their oldest children, Jenny, Kris, and Jake in 1977. They adopted Jed and BriAnna and added them to their family in 1981. Ed and DeVona had Gilmen in 1985, and Andrena in 1987. Mom and Dad were foster parents for 37 years, and in that time, they were parents to 64 children. Some were for a short time, and some for longer, but they cared for and loved all of them. Some of those kids became permanent members of their crew, and they added Anne, Lynn, Joe, Trisha, and Jeffrey. They also raised their granddaughter, Allie, as their own.

Dad was the quiet and steady rock of our family. His faith in God and quiet acceptance of anything that life threw his way was a constant comfort, and sometimes frustration, to all of us.

Dad loved the outdoors and spent many hours camping, hunting, and fishing with Mom, his children, and later with his grandchildren. Dad got the opportunity to work for FWP in 2006, and created another family with his co-workers, customers, and the people he met while doing that job.

Dad was an amazing husband, father, and friend. He was our strength, comfort, and teacher in everything. His love for DeVona was unmatched and a constant battle of "I love you more" was always going. Mom is his soulmate and they had 51 wonderful years together. Dad was the greatest father we could have ever asked for, and he loved and cherished that role. We will forever be grateful for his love, teachings, patience, strength, and wisdom. When Dad became "Grandpa", he found a new role to fulfill, and he mastered it. He was so incredibly proud of every one of his children and grandchildren and loved getting to support and cheer them on in sports (baseball being the favorite), school, 4-H, and everything in between.

Edward is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, DeVona; his children Jenny, Kris, Jake, Jed, BriAnna, Gilmen and Tracy, Andrena and Kyle, Lynn and Brian, Anne and Jason, Trisha and Aric, Allie, Joe, and Jeffrey. Grandchildren MiRanda, Ronnie, Allan, DeShawnte, Nikki, Tianna, Riley, Alexander, Emmy, Lettie. Bronson and Seeley Gasper. Kaleb, Paul, Kolt, Oren, and Hazen Groh. Trace, Kord and Roper Bain, Joseph Wittkopp. Samuel, Maggy, Eliza, John, Journey, and Serenity Price. Caedence, CassiDee, and Christian Mavity. His brother George (Sandy) Gasper, sisters-in-law Holly Zieman and Lola Heer, brothers-in-law Jarvis (Patty) Hegland, Kevin (Joan) Hegland, Greg (Cindy) Hegland, and many great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Edward was preceded in death by his parents Edward and Ruth Gasper, in-laws Gilmen and Vivian Hegland, brothers-in-law Rod Zieman and Paul Heer, grandson Cody, and his Aunt Pauline Knopp.

Our hearts are broken, but we will always remember and cherish the love that Dad gave us, and the impact that he had on our lives. We will never stop missing you but will take comfort in our memories of Dad and in each other; in the family that Dad and Mom built.

Our family would like to thank Dad's medical team and all of the staff at the McCone County Health Center for their kind, caring, and compassionate care of our husband and father. Their treatment of him and our entire family was wonderful. We would like to give a special thank you to Arvin Ward and Fred Kelly for their honesty and integrity in their care of Dad and for their genuine care for our entire family. We will forever be grateful to all of you.