John Philip Hertsgaard

John Philip Hertsgaard, March 3, 1953 to October 4, 2025 (age 72) What do you say about a man born on March 3, 1953, who loved racecars, baseball, barbeque, and beer? John Philip Hertsgaard was born in Fargo, ND and later moved to Grand Forks where he graduated from Red River High School in 1971. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1980. While in college, John worked at Quality Coaches in Minneapolis, MN. His professional career started with an internship at Honeywell in 1979, and he worked there as an engineer from 1979 to 1991. John was then recruited by the international packaging company, Tetra Pak. While at Tetra Pak from 1991 to 2004, John completed his MBA at the University of St. Thomas and traveled for work to every continent except Antarctica, was assigned to work and live in Moscow, Russia, Shanghai, China and Budapest, Hungary. John made lifelong friends in all his positions, and after returning to the USA in 2004, he bought Autopia Bloomington on Lyndale Ave. in Bloomington, MN. John enjoyed being his own boss for a change, and owned and ran the business for 17 years, until 2022. While John found joy in working, his real passion was for the things he did outside of work, including racing vintage sports cars and participating in motorsports in multiple ways: He was one of the founding members of Vintage Sports Car Racing (VSCR) in 1976, and was also a driver, volunteer and officer for the Land O' Lakes division of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). In 2014 John entered Steward Training for SCCA and became a National Steward in 2019. He loved having the responsibility to see that the races were fairly and competently run for drivers, workers and volunteers. In between racing and stewarding assignments, John smoked ribs, brewed beer, made Hungarian Goulash and followed his hometown Vikings and Twins, preferring to watch baseball at the ballpark or listen to it quietly on the radio. John married Louise in 1977 and they enjoyed an adventurous 48 years of marriage. He has a sister, Mary Hertsgaard of Grand Forks, ND and a brother, David Hertsgaard of Los Angeles, CA. John died in Fairview Southdale Hospital on October 4, 2025 from complications due to cancer and stroke. He was pre-deceased by his parents, Philip O. Hertsgaard and Harriet I. (Owen) Hertsgaard. In addition to his siblings, John is survived by sister-in-law Nancy Oltvedt Campbell, niece Sara Oltvedt (Dan Olson), nephew John Oltvedt, great nephew Camden and great niece Nora. The family would like to thank all the doctors and teams that provided treatment and care at Fairview Southdale and the Mayo Clinic. Special thanks to the wonderfully caring comfort care and hospice nurses from Station 88 in Fairview Southdale Hospital. Please remember John for his winning smile and his kind as well as sometimes sarcastic wit. Memorials can be given to a charity or cause of your choice, or to the American Cancer Society or the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). It's been a love story. A memorial service is planned for Monday, October 13th at the Washburn McReavy Edina Chapel. Visitation at 10:00 a.m., service at 11:00.