Glen Regennitter (1918-2017)

REGENNITTER

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 10/19/2017 at 10:34:14

Glen Regennitter, age 99, of Oxford Junction, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at the Clarence Nursing Home in Clarence, Iowa.  Visitation will be on Sunday, October 22 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a Family Prayer Service at 1:30 p.m.  The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, October 23 at 10:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction.  Burial with military honors will follow at Mayflower Cemetery in 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 8th Grade from 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 he was stationed at Chanute Field near Rantoul, Illinois when Pearl Harbor was bombed.  In 1942, Glen was transferred to the Army Air Force Base at Williams Field near Mesa, Arizona.  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 sixty 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 on October 4, 1947 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction.  Glen was also a highly regarded mechanic with Lehrman Equipment Company 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 years, Glen traveled on a Veterans Honor Flight to Washington, DC, which he counted as one of the highlights of his life.
Glen was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford Junction, the 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 their 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, Minnesota; John (Mary Jo) of Fairlawn, Ohio; Tony (Ann) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and his daughters Mary (Robert) Ankenbauer of Portage, Michigan; and Cathy (Alan) Cipolone of Brooklawn, New Jersey; thirteen grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.