Ralph C. Haan, 73, Eden Valley

October 7, 1941 - March 10, 2015

A prayer service will be 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 13, 2015 at Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Eden Valley for Ralph C. Haan, age 73, who passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones Tuesday at the St. Cloud Hospital after a long, courageous battle with cancer. Rev. Jerome Naduvathaniyil, OSB will officiate and burial will be at Assumption Cemetery in Eden Valley. Visitation will be from 3-7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home in Eden Valley.

Ralph was born Oct. 7, 1941 in Forest City, IA to Robert & CoLina (Mikesh) Haan. He graduated from Garner High School in 1959. Ralph served his country in the U.S. Navy. He married Rita Paca on April 23, 1968 and they resided in Miller, IA. He hauled milk for the creamery in Garner and he was also a plastics foreman for Winnebago Industries. In 1981 they moved their family to Minnesota, where he was a custom metal fabricator. Before his retirement in 2014, he was a manager for a hobby farm. Ralph was extremely talented, innovative and creative. You could always find him out in his pole shed. When he wasn’t tinkering on one of many projects you could find him fishing. He especially enjoyed fishing with the “Iowa Boys”. Ralph was a person who would pick up an object, need to take it apart, put it back together and customize it in his own way. He had a talent for seeing things in a different perspective.

Survivors include his wife, Rita of Eden Valley; children, Mindy (Steven) Blommer of Eden Valley, Holly (Ron) Lahr of Richmond, Jennifer (Sherman) Roeser of Watkins, and Jeffrey (Angela) of Eden Valley; brothers and sister, Richard (Gloria) of Kimberling City, MO, Dennis (Irene) of Waldron, AR, and Delores (Greg) Jones of Clear Lake, IA; and grandchildren, Emilee, Tyler, and Noah Lahr, Josh, Justin and Jake Blommer, Claire and Seth Roeser, and Dylan, Luke, Jenna and Chloe Haan. Ralph was preceded in death by his parents; granddaughter, Kaitlyn Lahr; infant brother, Timothy; and sister, Roberta Spear.

Memorials are preferred to the American Cancer Society or the Relay for Life.

The family would like to thank all of the wonderful and caring staff at the St. Cloud Hospital and CentraCare in St. Cloud and Paynesville who helped him surpass the odds and gave us twelve precious years.