Robert Lee Rieger died Friday morning, June 15, 2012 in his home in Marshfield, Missouri, after a long struggle with kidney failure. He was 76 years old.
Robert was born on April 13, 1936, in Dora, Missouri to the late Stephen Nathaniel and Sara Jane (Hale) Rieger. He was a proud graduate from Dora High School where he played shortstop on the baseball team.
In June of 1959, Robert married Linda Kay Hixon in Dora, Missouri. They enjoyed almost 42 years of marriage before she passed away with one of those years spent running a cafe and gas station together in Caulfield, Missouri. Robert was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and fish and be outdoors. While he was an excellent angler he was especially proud of his skills as a hunter. He began hunting at 9 years of age to help provide for the family and only missed one deer season the rest of his life. He was also proud that he could provide for his family. He started out as a surveyor with the Missouri Highway Department and would proudly point out the highways and roads that he had surveyed. He then came to work for Sho-Me Power where he stayed until he retired in 1999. A man of many talents, he was very talented artist and musician. He could play the guitar and banjo and entertained his grandson on many occasions with the harmonica.
Robert was a strong Christian and was at peace with the Lord at his time of death. He was baptized and described feeling the Holy Spirit wash through him. He was a member of the Marshfield United Methodist Church and until Linda Kay’s illness prevented them from going he attended church regularly.
Robert Lee Rieger is survived by his daughter and her husband Teresa Rieger Housholder and Keith Housholder of Marshfield, and his grandson, Christopher Lance Housholder also of Marshfield. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his two sisters, Lena Pauline Rieger and Betty Ileen Beecher and his brother, Horace Neil Rieger.
Robert’s funeral service will begin 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at Carter Funeral Home located at 1316 Porter Wagoner Boulevard in West Plains, MO 65775. Visitation will be held at Fraker Funeral Home located at 1131 State Highway A in Marshfield, Missouri, beginning 6:00 p.m. on June 17, 2012. He will then be taken to Carter Funeral Home where he will lay in wait until the services on Tuesday. He will then be laid to rest next to his wife and with his family at the Hale Cemetery in Dora, Missouri, located right across the road from the land where he grew up.
June 17, 2012 @ 11:35 pm
Robert Lee Rieger was one of my favorite uncles. When I was a child my parents and I visited him and Aunt Kay every summer. The visits were always full of good times, good food, and lots of love and laughter. I have many wonderful memories of those times, as well as of the phone chats we had in later years. Uncle Robert, I love you, and you will be missed.
June 18, 2012 @ 2:37 pm
We are sorry for you in the loss of your father. He was always very jolly, friendly man.
Mom (Avis) is unable to attend many funerals anymore but she was always very close to Linda Kay and enjoyed both she and your dad’s company. Avis was one of the bridesmaids in their wedding picture where they all looked like movie stars. May God be with you and all your family and help to give you strength to remember the good parents you had.