Roger Carl Feist was born on November 30, 1936 to Elmer and Bessie (Grobel) Feist, in Clarkfield, MN.

After graduating high school, he joined the Army as a Mechanic and was stationed over in Germany. Roger later married his first wife, Phyllis (Lindbery) in December of 1960 and would have 4 children, Robert, David, Scott, and Karrie.

Roger and his family moved to Atwater, MN where Roger bought the local Lumber yard, later named Atwater Building Center. He raised his family in Atwater and was very active in the community during that period of time. He grew the business over the years and worked with local bankers and developers to add an addition to the West side of town with several homes, and help grow the community in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Shortly after his children had graduated high school, he would sell the lumber yard and ended up moving to the Buffalo, MN area, where he continued working in the lumber business with Simonson Lumber, ultimately retiring with Spring Lake Park Lumber.

Roger married his second wife, Bonnie, in 1995 and moved to Amery, WI where he eventually went back to his farming roots and helped his wife raise sheep, alpaca’s, llama’s, and goats. To his final days, he was still helping out with chores, but not without the help of his grandson, Sam Black, who was always available to lend a hand on a moment’s notice.

Roger was an outdoor enthusiast, enjoying hunting and fishing. Roger was your typical ‘salt of the earth’ kind of man from back in that era, as he was very good with his hands and enjoyed wood working, building, and many related hobbies. In his early years growing up on the family farm he helped out by farming, even spending his free time trapping and trading furs for family income. One of the stories at deer camp that would often recirculate would be the time that Roger, his brother Donny, and his father came upon what was later discovered to be a bear den. Brother Donny was curious what had created the seemingly small hole in a wooded mound, eventually taking a stick nearby to poke inside said hole. In very short order, a very large and enraged black bear came crashing through that hole in the den and was on top of brother Donny. Nearly at that same moment, Roger had fired his gun, killing that bear before the bear was able to harm Donny fatally. All 3 men were equally surprised with what came out of that hole as they were at how quickly Roger had managed to issue that fatal shot to the bear. That was Roger, a quiet and untold folk hero!

There didn’t seem to be anything he couldn’t fix or that he wouldn’t be willing to tackle, and keep in mind, this was before the time you could you-tube things and teach yourself how to do something.

Roger is survived by his wife Bonnie, his children Robbie (Audrea), David (Teri), Karrie (Jeff), and Kandi, sisters Kathy and Sue, as well as grandchildren Drew, Amanda, Brandon, Brittany, Erich, Sydney, Cody, Kylee, Sam, Chloe, Adam and great grandchildren Riley, Maddy, River, and Blakely. He is preceded in death by his parents, his son Scott, his first wife Phyllis, his brother Donny, and his sister Pat.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Roger Carl Feist at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 15 2023 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Amery, WI. A visitation will be held from 10 to 11 am prior to the service at the church. There will be a military send-off outside of the church following the service, with Lunch to follow at the church.

Last Update: Mar 30, 2023 1:24 pm CDT