Vern Reding
Vern Reding
Vernon (Vern) August Reding, age 77, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. Vern was born at Harlan Hospital near Defiance, Iowa, on Oct. 15, 1946, to Irmin Reding and Marie (Schechinger) Reding. He grew up farming, which built both his venerable work ethic and deep love of animals, especially dogs. He graduated from the University of Iowa and was an avid Hawkeye fan.
Vern spent the majority of his career as a civil engineer for the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation, later working for DAAR Engineering. While his engineering career was impressive, he preferred to instead focus on the many friendships and fun social connections he made along the way. Vern was a lifelong athlete, enjoying baseball in his youth, tennis throughout his adult life and later pickleball. He was known for his ability to ace entire games with his tennis serve. Throughout his retirement, he enjoyed many years of travel and hiking in Arizona and all over the U.S. with Christine and their many rescue dogs. Vern was passionate about equality and human rights, but not a fan of all the modern terms and convoluted politics. Instead, he followed an Iowa farm boy policy of treating everyone the same and maintaining that he was never too busy to interact meaningfully with every new person he ever came across, particularly with his favorite first question: “So … where did you grow up?” Vern enjoyed his role as a father, husband and big brother to his four siblings, but his heart shone the brightest in his role as “Grandpa Nernie” and he enjoyed special connections with every one of his grandchildren, taking great care to learn and support their individual personalities and spend quality time with them.
Vern is survived by his wife Christine; three children: Amy Andrews, Chad (Anna) Reding, and Peter (Kim) Reding; his bonus daughters: Sarah (Andy) Plamann, Elizabeth (Ryan) Wisniewski, Zan (Mike) Brody, and Annette (Morgan) Bridges; his 10 grandchildren; siblings: Marvin (Deb) Reding, Larry (Pat) Reding, Linda (Lyle) Muhlbauer, Deb (Jim) Davis; and his devoted dog Baylee. He was preceded in death by his parents.
A heartfelt thank you to Agrace, who helped support our family to provide Vern a peaceful passing, at home, as he desired. We are certain he skyrocketed straight to heaven to eternally enjoy his beloved mother’s cooking.
Family will greet friends for a visitation held on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Cambridge Nitardy Funeral Home, 208 Park Street, Cambridge, WI 53523. A service will follow the visitation and will begin at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to be made in Vern’s honor to your local humane society or any other local dog rescue organization. Online condolences can be made at nitardyfuneralhome.com.
Donald Rigoni
Donald Rigoni
Donald Gene Rigoni, 84, of Tucson, Ariz., passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Sept. 5, 2024. Don, or Gonze as he was affectionately known, led a long and full life that began with humble roots in Lockport, Ill., where he skated on the frozen canal in the winter and ate so many peaches during the summer that according to his mother, “they were coming out of his ears.”
After graduating from high school he joined the Navy in hopes of seeing the world, which he did. He brought back souvenirs and home movies from Egypt and tales of sleeping in the bunks of a submarine. Upon completing his two-year tour in the Navy, he took classes in the latest technology: computers. At one of his first computer programming jobs in a local hospital, he went on a blind date with a nursing student, Janet, who would become his wife of 39 years.
Don’s career took him to Chicago, Ill.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Sierra Vista, Ariz.; and Worms, Germany. As much as his work kept him busy, he always found time to fix the leaky faucet, repair the car, and be a friend to all who met him.
Retirement called in 1995, and a new journey began, perhaps one of the hardest of his life—caring for his ailing wife. Don cared for his wife better than any nurse until her untimely death in 2002. Several years prior, Don and Janet moved to the retirement community of SaddleBrooke in Tucson, Ariz., where he spent the last 25 years of his life.
Don was preceded in death by his parents Carlo and Rena Rigoni and his wife Janet. He leaves behind his daughters Tina Eden (Tom) of Niwot, Colo., Marcy Rigoni of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Carla Obertyniuk (Jerry) of Chandler, Ariz. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Sofi and Helen Halpin, Julia Eden, and Sophia and Spencer Obertyniuk. He leaves behind his partner of 20 years Sheri Berman and his sisters-in-law Nancy Moorman and Carol Zupancic.
Don will be sorely missed, and we hope that all who knew him can be comforted by the knowledge that he lived a long and fulfilling life, surrounded by family and friends from beginning to end.