Gudrun Hertsgaard targeted national debt

Gudrun (Kitchie) Hertsgaard, Minneapolis librarian, had one pet peeve for sure: the national debt.

Hertsgaard, who for the past 10 years forked over $3,000 each year to the federal government to help pay down the debt, died on April 12 at her Minneapolis home. She was 94.

Hertsgaard had been sending her money to the U.S. Treasury through Citizens for a Debt-Free America. In 1986, she began with $50, and for many years, she annually increased the amount.

"It's my favorite charity," she said in a July 14, 1990, Star Tribune article.

"That attitude -- 'What can this do to help?' -- I think that's why we never get anywhere. Is this just a drop in the bucket? Well, you have to start the drops coming, don't you?"

"But the deficit is so serious," she said. "It puts us at such a disadvantage against other countries. We aren't top-drawer anymore."

The national debt now stands at nearly $9.5 trillion.

She worked for the Minneapolis Library, or its branches, from the mid-1930s until her retirement in the late-1970s.

Hertsgaard could get animated about politics and politicians, even "caustic," but she was generally known for her good sense of humor, said her niece, Holly Hertsgaard of Westminster, Md.

She was a "prim and proper" librarian, said her niece.

Before writing a check, Hertsgaard researched the charities that sought her money. She gave substantial amounts to a few, such as public radio and the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Medical Foundation. Another 50 groups benefited from her generosity as well, said her niece.

At the end of her career, she was the assistant head of the Language and Literature Department at the downtown Minneapolis library.

Hertsgaard's friend Charlene Gabler of St. Paul worked with her at the downtown Minneapolis library. "She was so very conscientious, very aware not to be wasteful," and she was "frugal," said Gabler. "But she was very generous to everyone."

Hertsgaard retired at age 65, the mandatory retirement age. But "she would have worked until she was 90, if she could have," Gabler said.

In retirement, Hertsgaard checked books in and out for homebound people.

The Fergus Falls native moved to Minneapolis in 1920. Her father, Oscar Hertsgaard, directed the choir and band at St. Olaf. Her mother, Lajla, taught musical harmony and piano there. Her brother, Rolf Hertsgaard, a former WCCO radio broadcaster and Baltimore TV anchor, died in 2004.

She never married. She is survived by many nieces and nephews.