remembrances
     

DAN OFFENBURGER

Dan Offenburger, age 68, died on April 8, 2004.  He was a resident of Shenandoah and had been unconscious following a March 26 incident of ventricular fibrillation on the 18th hole of a round of golf.

Dan had been a social studies teacher and coach at Rolfe High School from 1962 to 1965. There was a fine tribute to him in the April 9 edition of the Omaha World Herald.

Helen Gunderson, class of 1963 and editor of the RHS web site, remembers her former teacher. "I met Dan when I was a junior and participating in the state track meet in Des Moines. He was the Fonda OLGC coach, but I had heard he coming to Rolfe the next year. So I got up the gumption to walk over and introduce myself. I was in his American problems class during my senior year and have kept in touch with him.

"There was at least one time, when I was staying with my sister Clara in Omaha, that we visited him at Creighton where he was the athletic director. Dan was always gracious toward us. He had a great sense of humor and a fun chuckle. He loved to talk and was comfortable discussing serious issues. He had a sense of justice and was progressive in many areas from athletics to human relationships to community development. He also had an entrepreneurial spirit and took delight in the development of the Rolfe alumni web site. We occasionally talked on the phone and exchanged email. He asked about other RHS graduates and Rolfe families and cared about their well-being. He often talked about an idea he had of getting some of his former teaching cronies (Dobrovolny, Faborg, Head, and Underwood) as well as school board member, Rus Jordan, and Rolfe students from the 1960s together for a winter reunion over dinner, perhaps in southwest Iowa. He never pulled off the dream. I appreciate Dan's respect for me, his interest in my career, and his support of this web site project and will miss knowing he is simply an email or phone call away."

Dan had written an essay for the RHS web site and the following information in the "where they are now" section.
  

After leaving Rolfe, I was a teacher and coach at Des Moines Dowling HS for two years...principal at Grand Community HS in Boxholm for one year...17 years at Creighton University, finishing as athletic director the last five years...five years in business in Omaha...now in my eleventh year in hometown of Shenandoah, Iowa, where I am head of the Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association. I married Mary Jean Carr from Fonda. We had four daughters. Nancy died at age nine. Jeanie, Marti and Katy are all Creighton University graduates. We have five grandkids and one more on the way. Life has been good. Mary Jean and I have great memories of Rolfe. A conflict in schedule kept us from the 2000 reunion. We hope to get back for the next one.

We will try to obtain an obituary for Dan and post it here. His journalist brother, Chuck Offenburger, wrote a beautiful memorial on his web site that provides great insight into Dan and Dan's values. We welcome readers to submit reminiscences about Dan.

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