Donald Jerome Ostendorf

Donald Jerome Ostendorf, age 77, died Friday, January 9, 2026. A Celebration of Don’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Sauk Rapids with a visitation beginning one hour prior to services at the chapel. Don will be buried at a later date in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Little Falls.
Don was born June 17, 1948, in St. Cloud, Minnesota to Erhard and Loretta (Korte) Ostendorf. Don Married Roseanne “Rosie” Kampa on October 18, 1990, at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas, NV.
Don graduated from Melrose High School and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War as an airplane mechanic. He then earned a degree in Engineering Technology at St. Cloud State University.
Don worked for Brown Boveri & Co. in St. Cloud, a Swiss electrical engineering company, and worked for them in Sao Paulo, Brazil for several years, before returning to St. Cloud. He then took a position as a handyman with Larry Heim of Riverside Road Estates and Jim Heim of X-cel Property Management doing maintenance, renovations and became referred to as “Mr. Fix It”. He completed many tasks for homes and apartments ranging from simple tasks as unplugging a kitchen sink, repairing an overflowed bathtub, fixing washers and dryers, to inventing and doing creative custom construction jobs with his business called HANDY-R-ME.
Don also designed and built his earth home near Rockville by himself. He built an auto-cycle (a 3 wheeled vehicle). It was made from Honda Civic and Honda CX parts. The parts were modified to complete his creation with a fiberglass body.
Don was a very positive, good natured, loyal and creative guy. He was a hard worker with a sense of humor. He loved tractors and would try to attend the Albany Pioneer Days event each year when possible.
Don loved to ride motorcycles. When he married Rosie, he got her involved and they joined a motorcycle club. After riding 2 wheeled motorcycles, they later purchased a Spyder, a 3 wheeled motorcycle.
Don enjoyed watching birds from his dining room windows where birds would perch on his large homemade bird feeder. He religiously filled the feeder to attract many species of birds that he could reference in his bird books.
Growing up, Don’s parents and relatives were a musical family. His dad Erhard started a band in the 1940’s called Erhard Ostendorf and the Soo Liners. His parents played mostly in the central Minnesota and St. Cloud area venues such as the Granite City Coliseum. As Don and his siblings matured, they would join in. Their band featured a concertina and played Old & New Time music. Don played the tuba, sang and played guitar throughout his life. He wrote and recorded his own music as well.
Don is survived by his wife of 35 years Rosie of Sauk Rapids, his siblings Arlene (Tom) Samsel of New Brighton, MN, Jim (Sue) Ostendorf of Scotts Valley, CA, Mary (Bob) Pearson of Glendale, OR, and his in-laws Carolyn Ostendorf of Sunnyvale, CA, Roger Kampa of Sartell, Virginia “Ginny” (Al) Olmscheid of Sauk Rapids, Mike (Tami) Kampa of Chisago City, MN as well as many nieces and nephews.
Don is preceded in death by his parents, brother Harold “Hal” and in-laws Arnold (Marie Schepers) Kampa, Patricia “Pat” Kampa and Kathryn “Kathy” Kampa.
Memorials are preferred in lieu of flowers to St. Croix Hospice or Dementia Society of America at www.dementiasociety.org.