Roeland Reyers

Roeland Reyers of Stillwater, Minnesota passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 1, 2021 at the age of 92, 74 years after narrowly surviving a Japanese POW camp during WWII in his birthplace of Indonesia. Following a return to his native Holland to recover his education and serve time in the military, he set out with his new wife, Beppie, for a new life in America. Starting out in Crookston, Minnesota with five dollars in his pocket and determined to get a job at a new Crystal sugar processing plant, he proved his potential and soon found an opportunity at 3M Company, where he would spend a successful and rewarding 32 year engineering career.

During many of those years, he was known to some around Lake Superior as Hurricane Reyers for always embracing foul weather and criss-crossing the lake in a small, 22 foot sailboat with his very tolerant wife and their two children. Following retirement, he and Beppie circumnavigated the lake for several summers from their home port of Cornucopia in a larger 32 foot boat boasting the name with their core value - The “Freedom”. Many years of a woodworking hobby produced lots of articles of furniture and art that can be found in any of the homes of his children, Jan (Bonnie) and Evelyn, and grandchildren Eric (Tracy Reidt), Kent (Mariah), and Anne Furst (Jonathan), with great grandchildren Jansen, Grace, Everly, Charlotte and Brandt. Preceded in death by his wife of 65 years only two years earlier, we hope he is once again sailing smooth waters with Beppie.

A celebration of Roeland’s life will be Sunday, June 13, 2021, 11:00 A.M. at BRADSHAW CELEBRATION OF LIFE CENTER, 2800 Curve Crest Boulevard, Stillwater with a gathering of family and friends one hour prior to the service.  In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to veterans organizations VFW or DAV.