Services
Obituary
Roger J. Stover, 79, of Dows, passed away on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at the Rehabilitation Center of Hampton.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, July 28, 2024 at First Lutheran Church, 206 West Ellsworth Street in Dows. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Dows.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church on Sunday.
Memorials may be directed to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research or to the Dows American Legion.
Roger James, son of Ruth “Gerry” (Rankin) Stover Knoop, was born on November 8, 1944 in Alden. Roger attended several elementary schools and graduated from Rockford High School in 1963. A week after graduation, Roger enlisted in the Army. He did a tour in Vietnam before he was honorably discharged in 1966.
On June 5, 1964, Roger was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart, Gloria Rohwedder, in Rockford. Roger and Gloria had been married for 60 years. After Roger returned home from the Army, Roger and Gloria moved to Muscatine where Roger worked at the Heinz factory. In 1967, they made their home in Dows where they raised their two sons, Troy and Wesley. Roger worked at Weidemann Construction. In 1987, Roger worked at the Wright County Maintenance and enjoyed side work for Roy and Jerry Johnson. Roger was well known for his bulldozer work. He retired in 2010.
Roger was known for walking around Dows and down along the river. If he wasn’t walking, he was riding his bicycle. Roger enjoyed hiking around Lake Superior along the trails in Minnesota – walking over 100 miles! He also participated riding in RAGBRAI for nine years. Roger was very active and wasn’t one to just sit and do nothing!
Over the years, Roger enjoyed fishing in northern Minnesota and being an active member of the Dows American Legion. He loved spending time with his family and grandchildren and attending their events, especially football games.
Roger is survived by his wife Gloria Stover of Dows; two sons Troy Stover of Centerville and Wesley (Stacey) Stover of Huxley; grandchildren Christopher James, Scott, Terry, Brady, Trinity, Blake, and Christopher Conrad; nine great-grandchildren with one more on the way; siblings Bill (Renee) Knoop, Carl (Jen) Stover, Cyndi (Paul) Owens, Cheri (Dave) Kraklio, and Kathy (Jim) Fry; and many other family and friends.
He is preceded in death by his mother and step-father Gerry and Clair Knoop; sisters Sandra Palmer and Nancy Clifford; two brothers-in-law; and nieces and nephew Mike Palmer, April Palmer, and Tonya Martin.