Dennis Gaspar was among the first of the baby-boomers.  He was born in Sioux Falls in 1946, the oldest of six children, to Elizabeth and Leo Gaspar.   At the time of his birth, his dad was in Army basic training and shortly after was stationed in Japan during World War II.  Dennis grew up in tiny Humboldt, SD (population about 450 at the time) in a huge extended family with more than 100 cousins.

He attended Catholic schools in Humboldt, where he graduated in 1964.  After high school graduation--much to his mother's delight--he enrolled at St. Mary's seminary in Winona, MN, where he studied theology in preparation for the priesthood.   With troubling doubts about this career path and even his faith, however, he left the seminary after three and a half years and immediately enlisted in the Army—much to his mother's dismay.   Ten days later he was on his way to basic training at Ft. Lewis in Washington and afterward was sent to the 249th General Hospital just outside of Tokyo, Japan, a thousand bed hospital specializing in internal injuries.  A soldier from Vietnam occupied every bed.  There he worked as a medical records specialist and was later transferred to a hospital in Saigon for a total tour of duty exceeding two years and seven months.  His experiences during the war forever shaped his worldview and his politics.  Even having grown up in a hunting family, he could never again touch a weapon and he remained a pacifist throughout his life.  He received an honorable discharge and returned to South Dakota in 1970, where he enrolled at Northern State College in Aberdeen to finish his undergraduate degree in English.  He was proud to say that, yes, he and Garrison Keillor had something in common:  they were both English majors!!

In Aberdeen, he met Sandy—in the renowned Depot Club.  He graduated from Northern in the spring of 1972 and they were married that fall.  During the first year of their marriage, he worked as a clerk in the Ward Hotel while Sandy completed her undergraduate studies.

In the fall of 1973 Dennis and Sandy attended graduate school at Purdue University, where they both had assistantships teaching freshman composition.  They completed their master's degrees in English literature in 1975. Dennis enrolled in the Ph.D. program and Sandy went to work for Purdue University libraries.

Brian was born in 1976, and the need to be close to family again prompted Dennis to look for a college teaching job back in South Dakota.

This was when Dennis's commitment to Indian Education began.  He accepted a job teaching English at Sinte Gleska College on the Rosebud Reservation in the fall of 1977.  He arrived for the interview at the old College Center building in Rosebud that first day dressed in a three-piece green polyester suit--and the teasing began!!  Back in those days, many Sinte students were older women who had never had the opportunity to go to college.  Three of these women in particular—Angie Rabbit, Irmlee Yellow Eagle, and Doris Leader Charge—took this naïve white guy under their wings and, through their gentle humor and wisdom, taught him a thing or two about the right kind of jeans to wear and the right kind of boots to buy!!  Later he would say that he never really felt at home until he moved to the Rosebud.

In 1980, the Gaspars' daughter Anne was born in Valentine, NE and their family was complete.

In 1982, he received a Bush Fellowship to attend Harvard University, where he completed coursework for a doctorate in teaching and learning.  The Gaspar family lived near Cambridge, MA for two years before returning to the Rosebud.

Dennis taught English and Study Skills at Sinte for 13 years until 1990 when he joined the staff of Todd County School District as their federal programs director/grant writer.  In the 18 years Dennis worked at Todd County, he wrote competitive state and federal grants that earned the district more than $25 million.  He worked tirelessly with teachers and administrators to improve the schools and to raise the achievement of all students.  He was especially proud of projects that focused on Lakota language and culture as essential elements of school effectiveness.

During his free time, Dennis loved to cook and was really good at it.  One memorable conversation with Sandy's mom involved the relative merits of the butt vs. shank cuts of ham. He also loved planting flowers and was an avid winemaker in his later years.

Dennis retired from Todd County School District in June of 2008.  Having spent his entire career on the Rosebud, it was a difficult decision to leave.   He said he could never have imagined living or working anywhere else, and he felt blessed to have known so many generous, kind and wise people along the way.

He and Sandy were able to travel a good deal in their retirement and pinched themselves more than once at their good fortune:  Among other things, they bussed the streets of Havana; watched a full production of Swan Lake at Catherine the Great's Theatre in St. Petersburg; munched on fried tarantulas in Cambodia; and rode camels on the beaches of Morocco.

Dennis was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in April of 2019 and the prognosis was grim.  Even so, he remained positive and grateful.   He said many times that, as a young impoverished boy from rural South Dakota, he never could have imagined such an incredible life:  educational opportunities to end all opportunities, a wife he loved, two amazing kids, a career that was rewarding and meaningful, and travel to all 50 states and scores of foreign countries.

Dennis Gaspar was a big man with a big heart and a big love.  We will all dearly miss him.

The National Cemetery is unable to accept flowers at this time.  All memorial gifts will be donated to the Rosebud Scholarship Fund.  The Gaspar address is PO BOX 1391, Spearfish, SD 57783 and Dennis also has a Venmo account: @Dennis-Gaspar