Dean Rodgers

DEAN RODGERS

Marengo

Dean Rodgers, 85, of Marengo, died Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014, at his home. Memorial services: 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at First United Methodist Church, Marengo, with the Rev. Matt German officiating. Military honors

will follow the service at the church. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo. Private family inurnment services will be at Iowa Veterans Cemetery, Adel.

A memorial fund has been established.

Dean is survived by his wife, Marilyn; a daughter, Lynn Rodgers of Columbia, Mo.; a son, Robert of New Jersey; a brother, Sam of Ottumwa; and four sisters, Lorene Meek of Tama, Louise Danner and Florence Ruff, both of Marshalltown, and Arlene Strennan of Des Moines; as well as many nieces and nephews.

Also mourning his passing are special friends, Lynn Stauffer and Greg Stauffer of Brooklyn, Mark, Jennifer and Ayden Austin of Bondurant and Caleb Kriegel and Kristen Stauffer of Des Moines.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, James "Mac" and C. Douglas; two sisters, Betty Catherman and Lucille Fiser; nephews, Harold Meek, Paul Joseph Strennan, Jody Danner, Dennis Fiser, and Jon Rodgers; nieces, Linda Kay Rodgers and Darlene Dufek; and several brothers- and sisters-in-law.

Dean Rodgers was born July 9, 1929, to Sam and Bertie Myatt Rodgers, in rural Poweshiek County, Iowa. He was the youngest son in a family of 10 children. As tenant farmers, the family moved often and Dean attended the rural schools of both Poweshiek and Iowa counties. He entered Marengo High School. When his parents moved to a farm near Millersburg, Dean returned to Marengo, boarding with Milton and Vivian Brown to complete his education and graduate from Marengo High School in 1947.

Following graduation, Dean worked for Pioneer Seed at Marengo and Thorp Well Drilling before taking employment at Amana Refrigeration. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 and took his basic training in Georgia and then went to New Jersey for signal corps training, graduating from there in September 1952. Dean then went to Korea, where he served until June 1953. He returned to Marengo in July 1953 and resumed his employment with Amana Refrigeration as a compressor analysis technician and then a toolmaker. Dean retired in 1991.

In December 1953, Dean married Joan Morrell in New Jersey and the couple settled in Marengo, where son Robert was born. The couple later divorced. Dean was united in marriage to Marilyn Harryman in July 1961 in Milton. To this union daughter Lynn was born. The family resided in Marengo.

Dean was a 60-year member of Marengo American Legion Post 76. He enjoyed woodworking and built many pieces of furniture. He loved working in his yard and garden. He read extensively (particularly history and science) and delved deeply into the histories of World War II and Korea, as well as the Civil War.

Online condolences may be extended to the family at www.kloster funeralhome.com.