Rodney John Liepold (1935-2020)
Our hero, Rodney John Liepold, went to his heavenly home on October 29, 2020, after a courageous battle against cancer.
Rodney John Liepold was born in Heron Lake, MN, on April 9, 1935, to Al and Florence (Nemmers) Liepold. He attended county school in District 44 for two years, parochial school for six years, and graduated from Heron Lake High School in 1954.
He served our country in the U.S. Army starting in 1955 as a tank driver, and was discharged in 1957, spending 18 months in Germany.
He married his beautiful bride, Theresa Heutinck, in 1967. They farmed in Heron Lake for several years, until moving to a hobby farm in Cokato in 1974. He was employed at Rickwell Furniture in Cokato, Lester Building Systems of Lester Prairie, and retired from Dura Supreme in Howard Lake in 1998.
Rod enjoyed hunting, fishing, spearing, gardening, old hot rods, wood working and loved his man’s best friend Katie. Our fondest memories of him are an Alaskan fishing trip he took with his sons, elk hunting in Colorado with his brother, a family trip to Europe, camping trips with the family and teaching his children how to farm, garden, raise animals, ride horses and 3-wheelers. He will be remembered as a faithful Christian, a fighter who didn’t give up, a humble man, his hard work ethic and most of all his unconditional love for his wife, children and grandchildren.
He was a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters of Winsted, the American Legion #209 of Cokato, and was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church in Darwin.
Survivors include his wife Theresa and four children, John Liepold of Dassel, Alan (Lara) Liepold of Hutchinson, Lori (Mark) Bruns of Utah, and Lisa Bohnsack of Jordan; six grandchildren Kody (Mollie), Hannah, Brooke, Tyler, Lukas and Bryce; sister Marilyn Bush and brother Don (Mary) Liepold. He was proceeded in death by his parents.
Visitation will be held at Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home in Cokato on Wednesday, Nov. 4th from 4:00-8:00 pm and a funeral service with military honors will be held at St. John’s Catholic Church in Darwin on Thursday, Nov. 5th at 2:00 pm with visitation 1 hour prior to services at church. Casket bearers will be Steve Liepold, Mike Liepold, Mat Wozniak, Scott Wozniak, Brian Pelzel, and Steve Householder.
The Liepold family would like to thank their family, friends, and Rod’s caregivers and hospice team for their love, support and prayers.