Richard E Rohner

Richard Elmer Rohner passed away on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at age 96. Born in Chicago Illinois on May 17, 1929 to Elmer John August Rohner and Irma Rose (Jines) Rohner.

Richard, known widely as “Papa” and “Rich”, will be deeply missed by his family: his devoted and adoring wife of 75 incredible years Jacqueline (Brill) Rohner; their four sons: Richard (Amy), the late Ronald (Darlene), Russell, and Randall (Annamarie); their 14 grandchildren: Michelle (Drew) Lissuzzo, Laura Hedrick, Ronald Rohner, Jr., Alexandra Rohner, Daniel Rohner, Nicole (Zachary) Ebener, Richard (Tatianna) Rohner, Christian (Laura) Rohner, Emily (Samuel) Poppe, Jaclyn (Jeffrey) Carr, Madeline (Daniel) Lynch, Matthew (Madison) Rohner, Erik Rohner, Brittany (Joseph) Brown; and 26 adoring great-grandchildren ranging from 18 years to 11 weeks. He was also admired and respected by many extended family members and close friends. Papa frequently expressed his immense gratitude for the abundance of joy and memorable experiences he was blessed with throughout his very long life. He appreciated every beautiful moment. He was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer Rohner and Irma (Jines) Rohner, his sister, Betty Lou (Lutz), and his son, Ronald Rohner, Sr..

Born in 1929, he always joked that he caused The Great Depression. He graduated from Tilden High School in Chicago in 1947. Richard and Jacqueline (Jackie) were married in September 1950 after meeting through his sister, Betty Lou. Together they raised their 4 sons in Burr Ridge, Illinois.

Rich had a diverse and successful 37-year career with Illinois Bell Telephone Company, starting as an installer and advancing into various management roles including planning and implementing many large high-profile commercial projects. Dick (as he was known at work) was highly respected and admired by his colleagues and he formed several life-long friendships that extended well beyond his retirement in 1986. Papa often noted his regret at not purchasing stock when cell phones emerged, since his intuition led him to believe that the industry would never succeed due to the high cost of service. However, that was greatly overshadowed by how pleased he was that he enjoyed more years of retirement than he worked, an amazing 38 years with his family post-retirement.

Rich and Jackie enjoyed living in Somerset, Kentucky for 3 years after retiring, where they golfed, fished, explored, and laughed with many new friends and neighbors as they were welcomed into the small community on the shore of Lake Cumberland. Once the grandchildren started coming along, they returned to New Lenox, Illinois to be very active and loving grandparents.

Papa loved to talk about his 14 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren and always expressed how blessed he was to have such an incredible family. The family has a long-standing multi-generational tradition of gathering in northern Minnesota on Lake Vermilion for a family reunion every summer, of which Papa was able to enjoy personally for 87 years.

Papa was a loyal White Sox fan and enjoyed watching games on his tiny TV, as well as NASCAR races, while sitting in the garage smoking a cigar and enjoying his scotch (as long as it was above 75 degrees, of course). He also enjoyed camping, fishing, golf, furniture building, gardening, and other projects, but mostly he will always be fondly remembered as an amazing example of a loving and devoted family man. Papa will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him, and his memory will be cherished.

Visitation is at Kurtz Memorial Chapel in New Lenox, Illinois on Friday, January 23, 2026 from 4-8pm, and a service will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Lenox on Saturday January 24th at 10:00am. Richard will be interred at Fairmont-Willow Hills Memorial Park in Willow Springs, Illinois.