RIENFELD, R. Dean

RIENFELD, LENHART, NAGEL, NEVILLE, HECHT, KILLMER, SMITH, SILTMAN, ROKUSEK

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 5/22/2007 at 10:53:13

R. Dean Rienfeld, 71, of Cherokee died Wednesday, May 16, 2007, at Cherokee Regional Medical following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Services will be 11 a.m. Monday at Greenwood Funeral Home in Cherokee, with the Rev. Armand Bertrand officiating. Burial will be in Hartley Cemetery, Hartley, Iowa. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, with a prayer service at 7 p.m., at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent online to www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

R. Dean was born June 18, 1935, in Dickens, Iowa, to Alfred and Mildred (Lenhart) Rienfeld. His family moved to the Pine River area in 1940, where he attended grade school and two years of high school. In 1953, his family moved to Cherokee, where he graduated from Washington High School in 1955.

He entered the U.S. Army on 1956, taking his basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, and his medical corps training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He took his medical specialist course at the Army Medical School and Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, Calif. He spent May 1957 to March 1960, in Germany with the Army Medical Service, Medical Detachment, 98th General Hospital in Neubrucke/Naha, Germany. He was assigned to outpatient and emergency service. He received a Certificate of Achievement for exceptional service, outstanding skill and aptitude while on duty. After he was discharged from the U.S. Army in March 1960, he returned to Cherokee.

He worked at Cherokee Mental Health Institute as a surgical technician in the operating room. He began employment with Wilson Foods Inc. when the company opened in Cherokee in 1965. He worked as a powerhouse engineer until his retirement on April 1, 1999. He also attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, while he worked for Wilson's. After his retirement, he worked for Perkins Office Solutions and as a security guard at Tyson's in Cherokee.

On Nov. 15, 1975, he married Dorothy (Nagel) Neville in Sioux Falls, S.D. They made their home in Cherokee for many years.

He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. He also was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was past officer of Local 179 United Food and Commercial Workers Union. He was a member of the safety committee at Wilson Foods Inc. for 15 years. He was a member of Little Sioux Folks Bicycle Club in Cherokee and participated in many RAGBRAI rides. He was a Minnesota Vikings football fan. He enjoyed traveling and ventured to Europe, east and west coasts, Hawaii and Canada. He was a Little League coach for several years.

Survivors include his wife, Dorothy; two stepdaughters, Dorothy and her husband, Lee Hecht of Rochester, Minn., and Dawn Killmer of Bella Vista, Ark.; six stepgrandchildren, Tod, Scott, Paul and Nicole Hecht and Chantel and Regan Killmer; a godson, Zacheriah Smith of Sonoma, Calif.; a name sake grandnephew, Kyle Dean Rienfeld of Flandreau, S.D.; a sister, Bonnie Siltman of Littlefolk, Minn.; a brother, Vernon Rienfeld of Mesa, Ariz.; a brother-in-law, Claire Rokusek of Omaha; a sister-in-law, Betty Rienfeld of Sonoma, Calif.; and nine nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Wilbur Rienfeld in 1991, and Myrl Rienfeld in 1996; a sister, Vinaray Rokusek in 1998; a brother-in-law, Glen Siltman in 2002; and a stepdaughter, Vicki Lynn Neville in 1975.