John Kuester knew how to keep calm.
Whether he was attending a big community meeting or sitting around a dining room table, Kuester would often be the last to speak, defusing any tension in the room with gentleness and humor.
"He spent a life organizing community groups, and his personal traits — the calm demeanor, civility, thoughtfulness, sense of humor — it would come through," said longtime friend Bob Quist.
A tall, soft-faced man who would respond to "How are you doing?" with a cheeky "I'm perky!" Kuester is remembered for his ability to bring people together throughout decades of community organizing. He died Feb. 2 at his home in Elk River. He was 78.
Kuester grew up on a farm in Iowa, where he spent an entire summer playing hide-and-seek with a pig named Henrietta — an animal who was good at finding but not so good at hiding, Quist said.
In 1980 Kuester and his wife, Louise, moved from tiny Palmer, Minn., to Elk River, and Kuester got involved in a variety of community and statewide initiatives. He helped create the McKnight Foundation's Minnesota Initiative Foundations, which in 1986 established foundations across the state to help diversify rural economies during the farm crisis.
Kuester brought a passion for preserving rural and historic places and creative ideas for bringing people together, said Kathy Gaalswyk, former president of the Initiative Foundation that serves central Minnesota.
"Back in the mid-80s when we started this work, community development was just virtually nonexistent in Minnesota," Gaalswyk said. "He really made a difference in the state by bringing forward good, sound principles to engage people in improving their communities."
