Rodney Felber

Rodney Felber, age 90, of Alexandria, died Tuesday, December 15, 2015. A funeral service will be held 11 AM Saturday, December 19, 2015 at Grace Church in Alexandria. Interment in Fort Snelling National Cemetery will be at a later date. Friends may call from 10 to 11 AM Saturday at the church. Arrangements are with the Anderson Funeral Home. OBITUARY Rodney Jeanne Felber died at Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Alexandria, Minnesota on December 15, 2015 after a long illness. Rodney, the second of nine children, was born in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota on September 13, 1925 to Jesse (Nichols) and Sidney Felber. His family moved to Rothsay, Minnesota a few years later. He has maintained relationships with persons in that community since his childhood. Rodney was God’s faithful servant, one who loved the Lord with his whole mind, body, and spirit. He was active all his life in a local Baptist Church. He accepted Christ in his teens and was baptized in Fergus Falls. Rodney served as a deacon, taught Sunday school, and taught the adult membership class at Brooklyn Center Baptist Church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. He was a charter member of Grace Baptist Church. Rodney was drafted into the army during his senior year of high school and missed his senior graduation. He served in the 1270th Engineer Combat Battalion during WWII which was attached to Patton’s Third Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Rodney returned to attend Moorhead State Teachers’ College on the G.I. Bill graduating in 1950 with a B.A. in elementary education. Rodney continued his education at the University of Wyoming graduating with a Master of Arts in 1955. Rodney’s first position was at Hawthorne School in Fargo, North Dakota where he taught 5th and 6th grade for two years. From 1953-55 Rodney was the first elementary principal in Sisseton, South Dakota. He moved from there to Alexandria, Minnesota where he was the elementary principal at Washington Elementary from 1955-61 and finally to Brooklyn Center, Minnesota where he worked for the Osseo School District for 24 years at Park Brook School and Fair Oaks School until he retired in 1985. Rodney was a life member of the Minnesota Elementary Principals Association, National Education Association, and Retired Educators Association of Minnesota. Rodney met Frances Ellen Folger in a biology class at Moorhead State. They were married on June 10, 1951. They had two daughters: Carolee and Stacey. Rodney had a strong volunteer ethic. While in Alexandria Rodney formed a Boy Scout Troop and became the Scout Master. The troop took trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and annual Camporees. The troop performed construction work as a service project at Wilderness Camp. Rodney worked as a gleaner in Arizona picking citrus at private homes to be donated to local food pantries. Rodney worked for the Red Cross supporting families in emergencies and service personnel on home visits to sick relatives. Rodney and his wife Frances have had a lifelong interest in missions. He supported missionaries stationed in both Minnesota and abroad and built relationships through regular correspondence. He was on the mission committee at Grace Baptist Church. In 1990 Rodney and Frances moved to Vienna, Austria with Child Evangelism Fellowship supporting a team that served countries behind the Iron Curtain. Rod managed the six room European Outreach office, clearing expense accounts in multiple currencies and tracking a warehouse filled with books for every language in Eastern Europe for the 27 missionaries who used this office as their base. Rod’s four year posting took him to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. In 1994 Rodney and Frances assisted with the move of the office to Poland. Rodney had a great love for the outdoors. He enjoyed fishing for walleyes and hunting for ducks, grouse, and pheasants. Rodney and Frances camped extensively in the summers first as newlyweds and later with their two girls. Their tenting trips took them from the East Coast to the West Coast as well as to Yellowstone and the Tetons. In 1968 Rod and Fran purchased a cabin on Woman Lake. Every year at the start of summer Rod would pack up the station wagon and relocate the family to the woods where there were berries to pick and fish to catch. Long hours were spent sitting on the dock and swimming in the lake. Friends and family were often in attendance. Rodney and Frances enjoyed travel and learning about other cultures. They wintered for several years in Sun City, Arizona. They visited many countries in Europe on formal tours and on their own. They went to Australia and New Zealand. Rodney is survived by his wife of 64 years Frances Ellen (Folger), two daughters Carolee Felber and her husband Christopher Dutch of Charleston, West Virginia and Stacey Lucius and her husband Leland of West St. Paul, Minnesota, two sisters Marvell Peterson of North Dakota and Ruth Ann Fretland of Washington, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; his four brothers, Sidney, Donald, John, and Darrell; and two sisters, Eunice Stephens and Rhoda Nelson. The family wishes to thank the staff at Diamond Willow Assisted Living who gave Rodney a comfortable place to call home these last two years. A memorial service honoring his life will be held at Grace Baptist Church on Saturday, December 19 at 11:00 am in Alexandria, Pastor Craig Dahl officiating. Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to the service. Interment of ashes will be at a later date at Fort Snelling in St. Paul. Memorial donations may be made to the Grace Baptist Church Building Fund, the Salvation Army, or the Red Cross.

Rodney Felber

September 13, 1925 - December 15, 2015