Audreen Rodeberg

Audreen Rodeberg passed away peacefully at her home in Oak Park Heights, MN on Saturday, July 14, surrounded by family. Despite living with cancer for 10 years, she always kept her upbeat and positive attitude, and lived her life to the fullest. She truly brought joy to her family and friends.

Audreen Jean Anderson was born near Becker, MN on November 4, 1929, the daughter of Fred and Bertha (Larson) Anderson. Audreen and her twin sister, Audrey Jewel, contracted scarlet fever and Audrey died at a month old. Audreen often noted that she felt the loss of her sister throughout her life.
She attended Patrick Henry High School in north Minneapolis, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1951 with a BS in Physical Education and a minor in Sociology. From 1951 to 1957 she taught Phy Ed at St. Louis Park and Montevideo. While teaching in Montevideo she met Thomas Rodeberg, whom she married in 1955. They lived in Montevideo until moving to Oak Park Heights in 2007.

Audreen had many interesting jobs throughout her life, starting in High School with working at Daytons and at her neighborhood grocery store, Lofgrens. During college, she worked for the Minneapolis Park Board in several physical education roles, for the University of MN Health Service, and also enjoyed working as a camp counselor at Camp Chickagami in Wisconsin and Camp Tapawingo in Harrison, Maine. She also worked for Tom's engineering firm, Rodeberg & Associates, in Montevideo for many years.

Audreen's love of adventure and travel started early, when she traveled by bicycle around Europe for 10 weeks in the summer of 1953. She continued to travel prolifically throughout her life, enjoying trips with Tom, friends and family. She traveled to Europe and Mexico many times and also took trips to South America, once enjoying the adventure of a cruise down the Amazon River with Sarah. She especially enjoyed Paris and traveled there several times, including a trip to France and Denmark in 2011 when she had her "favorite" trip ever with Sarah.

Her love of adventure was evident in every area of her life. Audreen held numerous volunteer positions throughout her life, and was never afraid to take on a tough job. She never stopped yearning to learn more. From the summer of 1954 when she took classes at UCLA, through this year, she always enjoyed expanding her knowledge through classes, seminars, reading, book clubs and other avenues. She loved music and the arts, and always focused on "creating beauty" in whatever she did. Besides writing and painting herself, she enjoyed art in many forms, which was evident from the variety of art in her home. Audreen was known as a gourmet cook and an avid entertainer, teaching classes in cooking and making celebratory events for friends and family. Audreen was a passionate and compassionate friend, and always enjoyed spending quality time with her friends and family.

Audreen was preceded in death by her husband, Tom; sisters Audrey and Fern, and her parents. She is survived by her sister Joyce Anderson, son Mark, and daughter Sarah, all of Minneapolis; and son John, wife Nancy, and grandchildren Justin and Shannon of Hutchinson, MN and Nathan of Chapel Hill, NC. She is also survived by her AFS son, Alan Axelsen of Aarhus, Denmark, and many other friends and family.

Memorial donations can be sent to People's Congregational Church or the Mayo Clinic for cancer research (200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905).