- Date Of Birth: July 27, 1952
- Date Of Death: December 19, 2013
- State: Maryland
Born in 1952 in Baraboo, Wis.; he was the son of the late Stanley LeRoy Rognlien and the late Arlene Doris Jacobson Rognlien. His father served on submarines in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific and then worked throughout his career with Alcoa, the Aluminum Company of America – as a result, the family lived all over the Americas.
After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University, he followed in his father’s footsteps and served his country for 32 years as a defense contractor with the intelligence community. It was a job that took him to approximately 68 countries over the years. His particular field of expertise was computer science and communications.
Mr. Rognlien married Marian Babylon in 1982 at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Westminster.
After retirement, Mr. Rognlien continued serving others through volunteer and mission service. He again traveled the world, this time for recreation, and spent time in Westminster with his extended family. He enjoyed fishing in Alaska, playing math and word games like Sudoku, and drove the Alcan Highway and across the USA several times.
In addition to his training as an electrical engineer, he was handy with tools and home improvement projects. He was a veteran of many mission trips with Taylorsville United Methodist Church, to help folks who had suffered from natural disasters, including places such as Biloxi, Miss. after Hurricane Katrina and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy.
He volunteered at numerous Carroll County civic and community functions. He was handy with a chainsaw and often helped cutting firewood with the Taylorsville “wood chuckers,” who cut firewood for the needy. He was a serious student of the game of golf.
In the greater Warrenton community, he volunteered extensively with organizations such as People Helping People, VolTran, and the Fauquier County Food Distribution Coalition. He worked for the Fauquier Co. Board of Election Supervisors. He was a member of the Warrenton Stamp and Coin Club and was a founding parent of the FAST swim team. He was an active member of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Warrenton.
He remained an avid reader his entire life and was seldom seen without a book in his hand. He was comfortable in the kitchen and well-known for his special “Ron’s pancakes.” He was also an avid movie-buff. He was the family genealogist and took a scholarly approach to military history, and the form, function and history of American government. He attended all of his daughter’s swim meets, lacrosse games, and field hockey matches throughout high school and college.
In addition to his wife of 31 years, he is survived by his daughter, Marnie of Copley, Ohio, and her fiancé, Louis Paumier, of Wooster, Ohio; his brother, Roger Rognlien and wife Linda of Scio, Oregon., and his sisters, Diane and Darlene Rognlien of Corvallis, Oregon., Deanna Jorgensen and her husband, Christopher of Dunedin, Florida.
He is also survived by his mother-in-law Evelyn F. Babylon, sisters-in-law: the Rev. Sarah Babylon Dorrance of Taylorsville United Methodist Church; Lt. Col. Trisch Babylon, US Army (Ret.,) of Anchorage, Alaska; and Caroline Babylon of Westminster and brothers-in-law: Kevin E. Dayhoff of Westminster and Col. William T. Babylon, US Army (Ret.) of Anchorage, Alaska. He was predeceased by his father-in-law, David S. Babylon, Jr. in August 2006, and brother-in-law, Lt. Commander Jim Dorrance, US Navy Reserve in June 1991.
In addition to close friends and colleagues and his immediate family, Mr. Rognlien is survived by nieces, nephews; including Phil and Jamie Dorrance Miller, Andy and Melissa Dorrance Cimbala, Frank and Rosa Babylon, Liz, and David Babylon III, and great-niece Nora Harper Babylon and great-nephew Evan Parker Babylon.
