Steve Zaiser

Steven L. Zaiser was born on 30 September 1951 in Montevideo, Minnesota, to Robert and Alice (Roisen) Zaiser. He attended Montevideo public schools through his sophomore year of high school and graduated from Dawson-Boyd High School in 1970.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University Moorhead) in 1977. On 9 October 1976 he married Catherine Bishop. They had two children, Shana and William.

Zaiser began his professional life in community planning. He was planning director for the city of Devils Lake from 1977 to 1982 and managed the Devils Lake Steam Heat Authority from 1983 to 1987. He later worked as a community development planner for the Fargo-Moorhead Council of Governments and as a part-time job developer for Productive Alternatives.

From 1990 to 1997 he served as executive director and co-founder of River Keepers, a nonprofit that advocated for safe and sustained use of the Red River of the North. His funeral notice said he took particular pride in that work.

In party politics he was vice-chair of the Democratic-NPL in 1997 and chaired District 21 from 1998 to 2000. Voters elected him to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2002. He represented District 21, covering parts of Fargo and West Fargo, from 2003 to 2014 and sat on the Finance and Taxation and Political Subdivisions committees.

In 2012 he chaired a campaign to legalize medical marijuana in North Dakota. Voters approved the measure in November 2016.

Zaiser lived in Fargo for many years. He enjoyed nature and the outdoors, road trips in his Miata, sports and politics, and the company of his dogs Mayes and Skyla. He was proud of his children and of his work for the Red River.

He was preceded in death by his son Will, his mother Alice Jordheim, his father Robert Zaiser, his stepfather H.G. (Bob) Jordheim, and his grandparents. He was survived by his daughter Shana Zaiser (Sam Woolever), granddaughter Alice Woolever, grandson Logan Rentz, and by brothers and sisters including Tim Jordheim, Pam Perkins, Jana Fuller, Cheryl Graven, David Jordheim, Tom Zaiser and Stephen Jordheim, along with many nieces and nephews.

Steve Zaiser died on Friday 2 October 2026 at Lilac Homes Assisted Living Memory Care in Moorhead, Minnesota. He was 75. Local outlets including KVRR and KX News reported the death from the Boulger Funeral Home notice.

His cremains were to be interred in the columbarium at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Fargo, next to his son Will. Visitation and a memorial service at Boulger Funeral Home and Celebration of Life Center in Fargo were set for 15 May 2027.

Zaiser is remembered in Fargo as a former District 21 representative who connected planning, river advocacy and Democratic-NPL politics. Colleagues recalled him as a good presence at political events and as someone who wanted to improve life for people through the causes he supported. His chairmanship of the 2012 medical marijuana campaign linked him to the statewide vote that legalized the policy in 2016, and River Keepers remained a lasting part of his public record on the Red River.