Rodney Dale Engman passed away peacefully the morning of May 1, 2019 at home in Lehi, UT after a 14-month battle with brain cancer. In truth he fought longer than that, we just didn’t know earlier. He was born December 17, 1948 in Fort Dodge, IA to Maurice Richard Engman and Rosalie Ardell Engman. He grew up in the small Iowa town of Dayton where he learned to appreciate cars, ride motorcycles, work for what you get, and love and care for people. He earned many awards including a trip to Chicago with his one-year older brother Doran for selling newspaper subscriptions at the age of 12. Rod has always loved family and especially his brothers. As a teenager, Rod was often found with his then best friend and brother, Doran. In a tragic accident one summer, Doran drowned while racing Rod in a swim across the quarry. This experience left an indelible mark on his life, and most likely in how he cared for us.
After graduating high school in 1967, he wanted to join the Army to fly helicopters in Vietnam. His older brother Terry helped him make a wise decision and instead talked him into joining the Air Force, where he served as an enlisted man in Turkey during the war. After his initial years of service, he visited an Air Force buddy in Tahlequah, Oklahoma nestled near the Cherokee nation, and Rod loved it so much he stayed to attend college at Northeastern Oklahoma State University majoring in Touristry Management. While there he served as president of his Acacia fraternity, and later would share that sometimes the people that serve in positions of leadership are just the ones that step up for the responsibility.
After finishing school, he married the love of his life, Lynn Cheryl Engman on July 4, 1976, in a small, beautiful chapel in Homer, IA. They returned to Oklahoma, this time to Weatherford, where Rod worked at Southwestern Oklahoma State as a business development program facilitator to connect local businesses with professors who could assist fledgling businesses thrive. It was also here that dad opened the door to the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and invited them in while he put down his beer bottle and put out his cigarette. The family joined the faith, and Rod and Lynn were later sealed for eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple.
From there, Rod dabbled in various ventures that took them back to Iowa before stepping up for the responsibility of rejoining the Air Force as a commissioned officer. Life in the Air Force took the family to California, Missouri, Arizona, England, Virginia, and finally Germany. Rod started off his military career reboot as a Minuteman missile officer, and then transitioned into Disaster Preparedness. His accolades include: in Strategic Air Command, he and his partner were the first team in the world to be certified for the Cruise missile project while stationed at Greenham Common, England; in Tactical Air Command in Virginia, he was Officer of the Year and separately was part of Office of the Year for Disaster Preparedness; he served in Turkey once again during Desert Storm in the early 1990s, training the troops in how to defend against chemical weapons; and he earned two Master Degrees while in the Air Force, the first in International Relations and the second in Safety Management. Like most children, we have no idea what our dad did at work, but we know it was “top secret.”
After getting out of the military, life took Rod and family back and forth between Iowa and Colorado before ultimately landing in Utah. His experience led him into a variety of different occupations following the military, but most notably he spent several years with DMBA in Salt Lake City until he retired. Rod went back to work at Riverview Elementary where he felt drawn to help children with special needs.
During their life together, Rod and Lynn raised six unique children. He was the perfect father for our imperfect family. He made each of us feel loved and special. Rod and Lynn spent all of their time, talents and resources helping their children and grandchildren. At one point Rod felt the need to pass along life skills to his grandchildren and implemented Maurice School, lovingly named after his father, and spent the summer teaching the kids how to work in the garden, how to write a handwritten thank you card, etc. In this life, dad loved nothing more than cars, motorcycles and Route 66, a love that he shares with his brother Garwin, who owns Teepee Curios on the Route in Tucumcari, NM.
During his lifetime, Rod lived in more than 50 homes, owned almost double that many cars, loved riding his Harley with the wind in his face, and loved Yorkies. He was a patient father in life, and he was asked to be patient in death. We know he was welcomed home by his parents and brothers. We look forward to riding the open highway in heaven with him again.