Jason Timothy Burnside

Jason Timothy Burnside, 42, of Moorhead, MN, passed away on Sunday, October 6, 2024, in his home in Moorhead.

Jason was born on November 6, 1981, to Timothy and Pam (Blesi) Burnside. He grew up in Barnesville and Hawley, MN, where he also attended school, graduating from Hawley High School in 2000. His daughter, Alaya, the light of his life, was born in 2003. He moved to the Fargo/Moorhead area where he attended M-State, graduating with honors and the top of his class with two associate’s degrees related to computer programming and computer networking.

Jason began his career with Volt Engineering as a computer engineer with the eventual goal of working for Microsoft. He made that goal a reality, working for Microsoft as a support escalation engineer where he became one of the top 10% of individuals who closed the most cases in the world.

Jason became an ordained minister so he could officiate for his cousin’s, Alexis, wedding. He liked to let people know that he was still ordained by blessing you on a whim. He was also an avid sports fan, especially basketball, and loved to follow Minnesota sports, particularly the Timberwolves and the Vikings. He was a lifelong learner, always wanting to learn more or a new thing and was very competitive, rarely ever letting his daughter win at anything. He loved movies, music, car rides, frisbee golfing, and even won awards at bowling. Above all, he loved spending as much time with his daughter, Alaya.

Jason was the rock of his family. He was very kind, non-judgmental, soft-spoken, yet very outgoing. He was always willing to lend a hand, he wanted to help fix someone’s problem. He was a great mentor and was known as “everyone’s dad”. He had a humble heart, a selfless soul, and will be sorely missed by everyone that knew him. 

Jason is survived by his daughter, Alaya (Mahir Avdil) Burnside; parents, Timothy Burnside and Pam (Rick) Stetz; grandparents, Janice Volker, and Joe and Anita Blesi; siblings, Shayne Burnside, Jaye Burnside, Paige (Gage Thomson) Burnside; Jeremy (Shannon) Stetz, and Amanda (Scott) Wilson; his best friend and cousin, Nathaniel Gibson; and many other loving relatives and friends. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Lloyal Burnside, Donald Volker, and Wallace and Lucy Stetz.

Visitation will be from noon to 2:00 P.M., followed by the funeral service at 2:00 P.M., Monday, October 14, 2024, at Wright Funeral Home, Hawley, MN. A livestream of the service will be available on Jason’s webpage at www.wrightfuneral.com where a guestbook and video tribute may also be found. Burial will be at Hawley Cemetery, Hawley, MN, following the service.

Feel free to wear your Timberwolves jersey, Vikings jersey, or jersey of your choice for the service.