Ron Reentmeester
As with many other men of Council 10243 who are retired, Ron finds that his days are pretty full and he is quite active and involved. Ron considers himself "semi-retired" since around 1991 when the family business was sold. Until that time he had been the third generation involved in Rentmeester Oil and also Rentmeester Sports Center, businesses operated by a father and five sons. After "retiring" Ron tried sitting around for about six months and found out that it didn't work. So, he and a couple of other guys in his situation founded another business--selling and installing seasonal rooms and round circular skylights. All of that keeps him pretty busy from around April 1 through October 1.

When he's not occupied with business, he takes full advantage of his status as semi-retired. He's an avid downhill skier and snowmobiler. He also enjoys carpentry work and recently completed a project at the former convent building at St. Bernard. He also has a cottage at Shawano Lake and takes advantage of it especially in the summer. Ron is also deeply involved in the life of the parish and serves as a Minister of Hospitality as well as a Eucharistic Minister. He has held offices in the Athletic Club and served for four years on the Parish Council and Finance Committee. His dad was a charter member of the Parish and was involved in the building of the original church and school. He also helped form the Athletic Club, and Ron feels that his own involvement sort of carries on the family tradition.

Ron comes from a family of nine and most are still local. He attended Catholic Central (currently Notre Dame) High School and as a Junior and Senior was a member of the State Catholic Championship Baseball Team. He was also in the Navy where he served on an aircraft carrier and is very proud of the fact that he was at a general audience with Pope Pius XII back in the 'fifties (He's been looking for the picture of that event.) Ron and his wife, Helen, have been married for almost thirty-nine years and have been members of St. Bernard Parish for that time. They have two daughters, one in California and another in Alabama and they enjoy visiting them. Their son is a pilot based in Chicago and that helps in making the trips. Ron is very proud that all their children are college graduates and 'deep in their faith.'

It was about three years ago that Ron became a part of Council 10243; as with some other men he had a relative in the Knights. In Ron's case it was his dad, who was quite active at St. Philip. He's not entirely sure, but he thinks it was neighbor Richard Rebman who finally got him to become a part of the Council. Since that time he has been involved in some of the usual activities such as the booyahs and the Tootsie Roll Drive in the Spring. One of the things he finds that he really likes to do is work the food stands when they come up. What he appreciates especially about the Knights is that they are "a nice group of guys that get along well, and they're all good workers." He likes the camaraderie that exists in the Council and he hopes that in the future he can get even more involved in activities.

February 2000