Roger H. Odland
April 25, 1927 - September 17, 2011

"Eulogy Roger Hartman Odland by Robert E. Weigend, Jr. October 10, 2011 All of us here have our own memories of Rod Odland that will last long after today, because he was just that type of person who is worth remembering. You remember the times you spent with him, the things he did for you, and the kindness in his heart. My memories of Rod Odland go back thirty three years ? when we had our first date. Date, you say? Yes, it?s true. Let me explain. When I first met Cindy Stenjem thirty three years ago, she asked me to come to Deerfield to see the high school play. It was to be our first date, and I was very excited. Cindy told me that her aunt Alice Odland, Rod?s wife, was the English teacher at Deerfield High School, and director of the school play. So, I got to the school, thinking I would be with this beautiful woman I just met. But ? nooo. The first thing Cindy told me was that she had to work back stage doing hair and makeup for the actors. But don?t worry, she said, you sit next to this man ? uncle Rod ? and he?ll take care of you. So there I was, on my first date with my future wife, watching the musical play Carousel with uncle Rod. But, you know what. He did take care of me. He made me feel welcomed, and that I was among friends. He was a great introduction to a marvelous family, and we were friends ever since. He took great care of me, just like he took great care of many people over the years, including some of you. At the time I met Rod, he was working for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on the road crews that painted stripes on highways all over southern Wisconsin. He was a great story teller, and he told me lots of things about his work on the road crew, and the crazy drivers who would race around the painting trucks. Many people here, of course, know about the milk-hauling business he owned and operated for twenty five years. But at the time it was all news to me, and I loved his stories about that business too. His milk routes went from Cambridge to Fort Atkinson, and eventually down to Whitewater. He didn?t have the big tanker trucks that pumped the milk out of the milk coolers in the farmers? milk houses, no sirreeee. In his day, he collected milk in those big ten-gallon milk cans, which he carried one by one from the milk houses and hefted them up into his truck. It was hard and tiring work, and it took a lot of strength. But, you know, uncle Rod was a big, strong man. As a young man, he was an athlete. He played baseball, basketball and football for Deerfield High School, where he graduated in 1945. And even though the knee injuries he received in high school football stayed with him for the rest of his life, he remained active and athletic. He bowled for many years, and some of you may even remember the look of his team?s Deerfield Creamery bowling shirts, and the championships that his team won. And, as many of you know, he played golf for many years, and was an active member of the Lake Ripley Country Club in Cambridge. But athletics was not the only good thing that happened to him at Deerfield High School ? not by a long shot. The absolute best thing was that he met his one true love, Alice Sorum. Theirs was a love that was truly made in heaven. They were smitten with each other, and even though Alice went off to college to get an education degree, they maintained their relationship, and were married in 1950. We won?t forget that team ? Alice and Rod. They built their dream house in Deerfield, and were the host to many, many parties and gatherings of all types. Rod was a social man. He had good, lasting friends, and I was very happy when he introduced me to some of them. I recall the times he took me to the Lake Ripley Country Club to play cards. The stories they told, and the laughter they shared, showed me that Rod was not only well liked, but also a man to emulate. Rod spoke with a practical and down-to-earth wisdom that was almost folksy. And, he was an expressive man. I can hear his distinctive voice in my head today. When he spoke you could hear the emotion and the expressiveness in his voice. He just didn?t say ?yes,? he said ?Ohhh yeahsssssss.? He just didn?t say ?no,? he say, ?Newww ew ew ew.? He was a person you wanted to be with. It is no wonder that he was elected to serve as a trustee on the Village of Deerfield Board of Trustees. And even with that distinctive achievement, he was modest, saying that it just was a way he could help out the village a little bit. And did I mention he was smart. Oh yes, he was very smart. Did you ever go gambling with him? I did, and I was amazed with his ability to know the odds and consistently win. I?ve been with him in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and HoChunks Casino, and it was incredible to me that he always knew what he was doing, and was in control, and he took from them more than they ever took from him. But above all, he was a caring man. Throughout his life he was active at St. Paul?s Liberty Lutheran Church. Even during his retirement years, he took care of his extended family. He was kind, and generous, and helpful, and perhaps the ideal husband. Although he and Alice never had any children of their own, they were like second parents to his nieces. Rod will be missed dearly, and never forgotten. "