July 7, 1936 - August 31, 2020

 

Ken Rooney
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A private Mass of Christian Burial will be on Friday, September 4, 2020 at 11:00 AM at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waite Park, for Kenneth Charles Rooney, age 84, who passed away on Monday, August 31 at Quiet Oaks Hospice House in St. Augusta, surrounded by family. The Reverend Timothy Gapinski will officiate. Burial will be in the parish cemetery. Visitation will be from 4– 7 PM on Thursday, September 3, 2020 at Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in St. Cloud. Masks and social distancing will be observed.

Ken was born July 7, 1936 on the family farm in Padua to Walter and Laura (Ahles) Rooney. He married Dorine Hennen September 9, 1957 in Rockville. Ken worked at Honer Waldorf as a machine operator and retired in 1998. Ken enjoyed fishing, hunting on the family farm and also loved woodworking and helping his kids with various projects. He loved tinkering in his garage and was known as Mr. Fix-it because he could fix anything. Ken loved football and baseball especially the Vikings and the Twins. Ken loved his lawn and took great pride in making sure it was always meticulously groomed. He had a great love for music and enjoyed playing the concertina and accordion. He played in the band called the Swinglanders in the 1970’s. Ken also loved polka dancing with his wife Dorine. After he retired, he enjoyed a good round of golf, but above all he had a special love for his grandchildren. A famous quote of his was - “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.”

Ken is survived by his children; Gary of St. Cloud, Dale of Burtrum, Cheryl Simon of St. Cloud, Terri Schwindel of Waite Park, Lori (Scott) Nyren of Annandale, and Mary Rooney (Mike Swan) of Brooklyn Center; sisters and brother; Jeanette Schwindel of Richmond, Alice (Richard) Peters of Sauk Centre, Audrey (Bob) French of Brooten, Clarence (Betty) Rooney of Padua, and sister in law, Rosie Rooney of Belgrade, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Dorine in 2014, brothers; Willie and Melvin Rooney.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Quiet Oaks Hospice for their great care of Ken.

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