Glen Regennitter

GLEN REGENNITTER

Oxford Junction

Glen Regennitter, 99, of Oxford Junction, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, at Clarence Nursing Home in Clarence. Visitation will be Sunday, Oct. 22, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction from 2 to 4 p.m., with a family prayer service at 1:30 p.m. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the church in Oxford Junction. Burial with military honors will follow at Mayflower Cemetery, Oxford Junction. Lahey and Dawson Funeral Services will be assisting the family at this time.

Glen Albert Regennitter was born April 29, 1918, on a farm east of Washta, Cherokee County, Iowa, to Albert and Katharina "Kate" (Kaus) Regennitter. Following the death of his mother in 1925, Glen moved with his family to farms in Cedar, Jackson, and Jones counties. He graduated from eighth grade at Burr Oak School, northeast of Oxford Junction, in 1933. As a young teenager during the Great Depression, Glen "hired out" to a number of Oxford Junction-area farmers.

In September 1941, Glen enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Chanute Field near Rantoul, Ill., when Pearl Harbor was bombed. In 1942, Glen was transferred to the Army Air Force Base at Williams Field near Mesa, Ariz. Glen worked on fighter and bomber engines and aircraft for the duration of the war, attaining the rank of tech sergeant. His experience in the service and his intuitive nature for mechanics and engine repair would benefit many area farmers over the course of the next 60 years.

Upon his return to Oxford Junction, Glen was employed at Soppe Implement & Repair. There, he met and courted the shy young bookkeeper, Mary Rosine Lasack, and they married Oct. 4, 1947, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction. Glen also was a highly regarded mechanic with Lehrman Equipment Co. in Wyoming, Iowa, and, later, at his own Regennitter Repair business in Oxford Junction.

In 1984, he was honored as "Dad of the Year" by the University of Iowa. In 2009, at the age of 91, Glen traveled on a Veterans Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., which he counted as one of the highlights of his life.

Glen was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction, American Legion Wapsie Post 473 for 72 years and the Oxford Junction Volunteer Fire Department for more than 50 years, which included the service of its fleet of vehicles as resident mechanic.

Glen was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Rosine, in November 2016; and his son, Thomas, in 2014.

He is survived by his sons, Frederick (Judy) of Rochester, Minn., John (Mary Jo) of Fairlawn, Ohio, and Tony (Ann) of Cedar Rapids; his daughters, Mary (Robert) Ankenbauer of Portage, Mich., and Cathy (Alan) Cipolone of Brooklawn, N.J.; 13 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.