George Reiser

George “Buck” Reiser of Rush City died Sunday, September 15, 2019 at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina at the age of 84.

George was born May 24, 1935 to George and Anna (Schumacher) Reiser in Mission Creek Township, Pine City, MN.  This was northeast of Beroun.

When George was about 6 he started country school while they lived there and would walk two miles with his cousins. That year the snow was so deep that if they walked on the banks they could touch the phone lines.  The family moved several times so he also went to the Beroun School which was a one room school and then from 5th grade on up to schools in Hinckley. For a while he had to ski a couple miles across a swamp to catch the bus for an hour ride to the school in Hinckley.  He had a 1929 Model A Ford he had bought for $50 and the Country School district they lived in paid him $7 a month to drive himself to school. In high school he lettered for being a reporter on the school paper, track and was also given a Certificate of Service from the American Legion for being a member of the School Safety Patrol.  He graduated from Hinckley High School in 1954 when they were still the “Vulcans.”

Growing up George worked on the family farm.  They did share-cropping for people and cattle for the people who owned the property plus their own.  They milked 45 cows between the two farms and farmed with 3 teams of horses. After one year they got an old tractor but only used it for plowing and heavy work but stilled used the teams for planting, haying, and cultivating corn.  About 15 to 20 farms would get together for a Threshing Ring. His job was to shock the grain in the fields and then usually would help with sacking the grain or hauling it to the granary.  They also had the same arrangement for Goose picking. They would do 50-75 a day and when dressed out would take them to Duluth right before the Jewish holidays to sell.

Besides farming their own farm, he worked for a lot of farmers around the Hinckley area and then worked on the railroad as a tamper and maintenance person during the summer when he was 17.   After graduation he worked at the Pine City Feed Mill, Mora Feed and Grain.

In 1958, he met Marlene Bell and they were married October 24, 1959.   In January of 1960 moved to Owatonna to work on a farm. Bonnie was born here in 1960.  He moved back to St. Paul where he worked at Conpro for 23 years. They drove up to Mora where Steven was born in 1961. Tracy was born in St. Paul in 1964. Then in the fall of 1964 they moved back to the home area and bought a house in Rush City where they still live. Three more children were born there - Karen in 1966, William in 1969 and Kay in 1972. His and Marlene’s gardens were the envy of a lot of neighbors over the years and they raised almost all their meat and vegetables on their one acre.  In 1985 he started work at Plastech in Rush City as a machine operator and then went to janitorial. He worked there for 14 years before retiring.

He became a member and was baptized by Pastor Noenning July 8th, 1998 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rush City and was an usher at the church for a number of years.  He was a scoutmaster for a number of years and helped out with the Rush City High School Band Boosters when his children were in school. He was also involved with the local Rabbit Club in Cambridge. 

George is survived by his wife Marlene Reiser of Rush City; children Bonnie (Wendell) Swanson of Harris, Tracy (Bart) McCoy of Rock Creek, Karen Summy (Keith Porter) of La Vernia, Texas, William (Regina) Reiser of Corpus Christi, Texas, Kay Christensen of Pine City; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; brother Roy Reiser of Beroun; sisters-in-law Helen Reiser of Beroun and Margaret Reiser of Pine City.

He is preceded in death by his parents George and Anna Reiser; son Steven Reiser; great-grandson Finnegan Swanson; brothers Robert (Regina) Reiser, Edward (Lillian) Reiser, Harold Reiser, Curtis Reiser, Kenneth (Agnes) Reiser, Ray (Marcy) Reiser; sisters Sal (Clarence) Kryzer, Crystal (Joe) Taylor, Phyllis (Art) Hagen, Shirley (Melvin) Mattson.

Reverend Glen Kleppe will officiate at funeral services for George: 10 AM; Friday, September 20, 2019 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rush City. A time of visitation and reviewal is planned from 5-8 PM Thursday (9/19/19) and also one hour prior to the service all at the church. The interment will take place in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, Rush City.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to: Funeral and Cremation Service of Rush City - Olson Chapel.
www.FuneralAndCremationService.com