Gregory Francis Kooren

Gregory Francis Kooren, 58, passed away peacefully on June 11^th, 2020.  Growing up in Fargo and by Rollag, his easy-going demeanor garnered him many friends during his lifetime. Extremely intelligent, he was able to carry on relevant conversation with anyone no matter their background. He prided himself on his money management, and did quite well throughout his life, often with limited funding. He passed this expertise gained working for Wells Fargo onto friends and family, and helped several, including his Nephew, Chris Kooren, get into the same line of work.

Sports was a mainstay for him. Watching football and basketball often consumed much of his time as he became older. For many years he hosted huge Vikings game day parties with plenty of food, and foosball to follow.  He was an expert football analyst, as were most of his family, including his son, Sean.

He especially loved high-school basketball, often entertaining people watching with him with stories of his own high school basketball career.

He loved learning much about our history and had a special touch for anything related to WWII. When he was not watching sports, you would often find the History Channel playing on his tv.

Despite his warm demeanor, he did have a demon who chased him for close to the last 20 years of his life though; His love of the bottle.  He recognized that the disease was destroying his body and was able to stop for months at a time allowing his liver to recuperate a bit, but in times of stress and celebration he always returned to his old friend. Unlike many others he remained truthful about his drinking and it never robbed him fully of his caring. He wrote a beautiful memorial to our mothers passing a little over a year ago, even though he was drinking at the time.

Gregory was a gentle man, with a love for children and animals. He has owned cats for the last two decades of his life and delighted in taking care of animals and providing them a good home. His best feline friend was actually a cat he rescued from being frozen to death.

He is survived by a son, Sean Kooren; 2 grandchildren, Arianna and Harrison; brothers, Dennis (Karen) and Jeffrey (Amy) Kooren; along with many nephews, nieces, and cousins.

Passing through the veil before him were his mother and father, Ramona and Henry Kooren, and brother Terry Kooren.

Visitation will be from 5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M., followed by the memorial service at 6:00 P.M., Friday, July 24^th, 2020, at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Hawley, MN. Time will be allotted for sharing. A private family graveside service will be held at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Fargo, ND, at a later date.