Obituary of Roger Rens

Roger Rens passed on May 20^th, 2021.  A celebration of life for Roger was held on Saturday, May 29^th, 2021 at the Rens family home in Randall, Minnesota.  Memorials are preferred to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you do something special for or with a loved one, to celebrate life!

Roger Rens was born June 25, 1934 to the late Cornelius and Gertrude Rens of Boyden, IA.  In 1950, the family of nine children moved to Correll MN to become one of the larger crop and livestock farms in Big Stone County.   Roger graduated from Appleton High School in 1952.  He was drafted into the army in 1953 and served for two years active duty in the Korean War, deployed to Mount Fuji, Japan airbase as an air control tower operator. On April 7, 1956, he married Jacqueline (Sackreiter) Rens where they farmed 800 acres and raised cattle, hogs and chickens near Morris, Minnesota.  They switched gears in 1963 and ran a family restaurant in Milan, MN and in 1969, Roger launched a start-up business of taking down telephone poles when technology changed to underground cable.  In 1972, the family moved to Randall, MN and Roger again served our country as a sergeant in the National Guard at Camp Riley, retiring  20 years later.

Roger was a man of many skills and interests including breaking horses, piloting Cessna and Mooney aircrafts, master handyman, crafting birdhouses, fishing and hunting with his boys, golfing with his buddies, RV road trips from Texas to New York and points beyond, an avid Minnesota Twins and Vikings fan, and his favorite, doting on his grand and great-grand kids.  He was a friend to all and loved by many.  We miss Roger dearly.

Roger is survived by his wife, Jackie and children, Scott (Becky Zimmer) of Little Falls MN, Kristin serving in Niger, West Africa, Michael of Rice MN and Michele (Bill Andringa) of Bemidji MN, five grand children, and two great-grand children; Dennis Rens (brother), Karen Poole (sister) and Leila Walker (sister) of North Carolina, many nieces, nephews and their families.