Ronald Glen Haraldson

November 10, 1929 - November 25, 2018

Ronald Haraldson, age 89, of Rembrandt, Iowa died on Sunday, November 25, 2018 at St. Luke Lutheran Home in Spencer, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Rembrandt. Burial will be in the Little Sioux Cemetery in Rembrandt. Visitation will take place on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in STORM LAKE. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Ronald Glen Haraldson was born to H. Lloyd and Mildred A. (Doyle) Haraldson on November 10, 1929, in Sioux Rapids, Iowa. On May 28, 1944, he was both baptized and confirmed at the Little Sioux Valley Lutheran Church west of Rembrandt. He attended elementary and high school in the Rembrandt Consolidated School system, graduating from Rembrandt High School in the Class of 1947. He then attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, for 2 and a half years before coming home to work in the First National Bank of Rembrandt with his father. He met Janet Dunning when she came to Rembrandt from Spencer to help her parents run Dunnings Café in the hotel building on Main Street. Ron and Janet were married in Jackson, Minnesota, on August 23, 1950. To this union four children were born: Vaughan, Valerie, James and David. With the Korean conflict raging, on January 4th, 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed for almost four years with the 3700th Medical Group at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. After receiving an Honorable Discharge on December 13, 1954, he returned to Rembrandt and resumed his position with the bank, taking over the presidency there following the death of his father in April of 1978. He was “Ronald” to his wife and “Ronnie” to everyone else who knew him---and there were many! Teammates and competitors alike remembered his abilities on the baseball field playing for the Rembrandt town team in the late 1940s. Bank customers were aware that he appreciated their business and that he was genuinely interested in their lives, as evidenced by the hundreds of weddings and funerals he and Janet attended over the years. Always impeccably dressed, Ronnie was at home in any social situation. He had an encyclopedic memory and loved local history. He cherished his experiences growing up in Rembrandt and maintained a wonderful collection of memories of the people who lived there. He was always willing to share those memories with anyone who was interested, whether at the bank, in the clubhouse after a round of golf, or over coffee in the basement of Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Rembrandt. He especially enjoyed the Annual Rembrandt All-School Reunion each July. Aptly dubbed “Mr. Rembrandt,” he loved reminiscing with everyone who came back to visit their old home town wherever he encountered them over that weekend---at the bank, in the Rembrandt Grille, or at the banquet. He was proud of his community and the First National Bank, knowing that he was maintaining the tradition he inherited---that the bank was there “to help people.” Ronnie gave willingly of his time and resources to support Rembrandt. He routinely purchased and cleaned up properties in town that were otherwise unwanted or unmaintained. He served as Adjutant for the Haroldson-Olson American Legion Post for many years. He was a long-time member of the Our Saviors Lutheran Church Council and served many years on the Rembrandt Consolidated School Board in the 1950s and 60s. As well, he was a long-time member of the Buena Vista County Compensation Board. Ronnie passed away peacefully at St. Luke Lutheran Home in Spencer, Iowa, on November 25, 2018. He was preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his wife Janet, sons Vaughan, Jim (Jerri) and David of Rembrandt, daughter Valerie Mosbo(Rolf) of Spencer, grandchildren Stefanie (Mosbo) Henning of Spencer, Justin Mosbo (Jane) of Charlotte NC, Jennifer Haraldson of Minneapolis, Mike Haraldson of Spencer, and great-grandsons Jackson and Jordan Mosbo.