Ronald M. Engstrand

“For this one farmer the worries are over, lie down and rest your head,

Your time has been and struggles enough, put the tractor in the shed.

Years were not easy, many downright hard, but your faith in God transcended,

Put away your tolls and sleep in peace. The fences have all been mended.

You raised a fine family, worked the land well under the hot summer sun,

Hang up your shovel inside the barn; your work here on Earth is done.

Your labor is done, your home now is heaven; no more must you wait,

Your legacy will live on, and yes, we will close the gate. “

Ronald Michael Engstrand, who will be remembered as a stubborn but loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother and uncle, passed away on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at SSH St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, WI with his family at his side. 

To know Ron, you needed to spend time with him in his element, which was dairy farming. He loved his farm, and you could say he kind of liked cows too.. He grew up in Cream, WI with his mom (Rhoda), dad (Duane) and brothers (Andy, Jim and Paul). As most kids back in the 80’s, they enjoyed listening to classic rock, detailing their hot rods from their hard earned money, getting cows prepared for classifying and breeding and developing “Excellent” cows. 

Steamboat Days of 91’ was just a normal day, that was until he met the love of his life, Theresa. From there, their love bloomed and they grew a family. They brought six beautiful kids into this world, Nicole, Ronald (Laura), Randall (Danyelle), Ryan, Roman and Rocky. Ron made sure that the passion he had for dairy farming was shared with his children also. He created memories that were morphed out of Mountain Dew, tootsie rolls and peanut butter cups. 

Rather it was home cooked meals in the milk house, Dairy Queen birthday cakes, trips to auctions or staying at the farm, he made sure all of his family was taken care of. With the hardships of dairy farming, he always made sure to make nothing into something. Some days, hay bales were beds, hay mounds were playgrounds and tractor rides were the best part of the day! 

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad. He was the most selfless person most knew. He cared very much for his family, the way he loved was special. He never said “I love you” but he showed it with strong fist bumps and tight hugs. His face alone could tell a million stories. He would do anything for his family. He was the strongest person they knew, mentally and especially physically.Let’s not forget when he knocked out a heifer cold with his fist for charging at him and the kids while trying to get her into the barn!

 He loved spending as much time with family as he could, especially when he became a papa to R.J(5) and Ray(2). Football was a must! Rather it was the NFL or watching his sons play for Alma, he was there enjoying every minute of it. Jamming out to classic rock and spending time on his son’s, Randall, dairy farm in Maiden Rock was the icing on the cake (preferably Dairy Queen’s cake).. 

 Ronald’s passing was a shock to us all. He passed on a Sunday, the Lord’s day, but he fought all week at SSM in Madison, surrounded by, of course, his family. 

He is reunited with his dad, Duane, aunts/uncles and beloved companion, Ricco with our Heavenly Father in Heaven. 

 Rest easy old man, we’ll take it from here. Everyone will miss you and your big smile and kind heart, but the memories you have given will keep going.

 A funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 8, at 12:00 PM at the Talbot Family Funeral Home, Alma Chapel with Pastor Westenberg, of St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Fountain City, officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Pepin. A visitation will be held on Friday, February 7, 2025 from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM and again on Saturday from 11:00 AM until the hour of the service, at the funeral home. 

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker”.

God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board"

"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild; somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife’s done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it"

God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt, and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps; who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, and then pain’n from tractor back, put in another seventy-two hours"

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark."

It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church; somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says that he wants to spend his life "doing what dad does"

SO GOD MADE A FARMER