Donald Kaag

Donald Bricker Kaag, Jr. was born in Philadelphia on January 27th, 1944 to Donald Bricker Kaag, Sr. and Anna Elizabeth Kaag (née Thomas). At the time he was born, his father was participating in the invasion of Saipan – father and son did not meet until Don Jr. was nearly a year old. The family moved several times during Don’s childhood, which was spent mostly in Pennsylvania. He developed his love of reading and particularly of science fiction with the help of a kindly public librarian and a dentist neighbor who lent Don books from his own collection.

Don enlisted in the Marine Corps before he had even graduated from high school and served in Vietnam, where he was wounded in action. He reached the rank of sergeant before leaving the Corps to attend what was then Millersville College, where he completed his undergraduate degree in history in three years. He was so diligent that in 1969, he passed up the invitation to go to an outdoor concert with friends so he could keep studying – meaning that he missed out on Woodstock.

After college, he rejoined the Marine Corps as an officer and was posted first to Okinawa and then to the Philippines before returning to civilian life. He met his wife Cynthia in Helena, Montana, where they bonded over a shared interest in backpacking and camping. They were married in 1979. Don was serving in the Montana Army National Guard when there was a call for officers to go on active duty overseas. In 1981, Don and Thia moved to Erlangen, Germany, where they enjoyed exploring the Alps and Gasthauses and learning key Bavarian phrases (‘Ein Bier, ein Bier, oder ich fall’um!’).

In 1983 their daughter Sierra was born in Nuremberg, and in 1986 the family returned to the US and settled in Moscow, Idaho. As he was fond of saying: ‘we came to the place we were meant to be.’ After completing his Master’s degree and teaching certification at the University of Idaho, he taught first at Moscow Junior High School and then at Moscow High School, where he particularly enjoyed teaching AP U.S. History. He cared deeply about his students and is remembered by many for his humor and enthusiasm – along with the bugle he used to wake any student who made the mistake of drifting off in his class. He retired from teaching in 2006. In his later years, he continued to bake his famous sourdough bread and loved taking cruises around Europe, up the Amazon, and from Australia to New Zealand.

He is survived by his wife, Cynthia Stewart Kaag; his daughter, Sierra Elizabeth Kaag; and his brother, James Kaag.

A memorial will be held at the 1912 Center on Wednesday, September 9th from 5-7pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the IM ABLE Foundation, founded by his nephew Chris Kaag: https://imablefoundation.org/, or the Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/en-us/membership-and-giving/donate-to-our-mission/other-ways-to-give/.