Rabenold, Richard D. – 1921-2005

DENNIS, GRIER, MASON, RABENOLD

Posted By: Donna Sloan Rempp (email)
Date: 8/9/2016 at 19:53:25

Services Held
Services for Richard D. Rabenold were held Tuesday, May 3, 2005, at Jefferson County Hospital in Fairfield, after a seven year struggle with Alzheimer’s.
Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Iowa or the Presbyterian Family Center in Montezuma. Friends may send the Rabenold family condolence messages by submitting them on the Smith Funeral Home website at www.smithfh.com.
Dick was born in Ainsworth, Iowa, on October 9, 1921. He attended Ottumwa High School but moved his senior year and graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1939, where he was Second Team All-State in football. From there he went to William Penn College where he played both football and basketball for the Statesman, graduating in 1943 with a degree in math and chemistry.
Because it was wartime, he enlisted in the Air Force and became a fighter pilot. After the war he and his family moved to Montezuma and opened a Western Auto store and Rabenolds’ Department Store, which they owned and operated on the square for more than 40 years. He was a member of the American Legion. On March 2, 1947, he married Ruth Mason. The couple had two children.
Dick is survived by his wife of 58 years, Ruth Rabenold; daughter Jacki (Joel) Grier of Monroe; son Dick (Janis) Rabenold of Pleasant Hill; and two grandsons, Brad Grier (Liz Dennis) of Des Moines and Bret (Alyssa) Grier of Prairie City.
He was preceded in death by his parents; Harry and Marie Rabenold, brother John Rabenold; and sister Mary Rabenold.
Source: Monroe Legacy; 05 May 2005