Biography
Born in Anamosa, IA, Ned Rohwedder grew up on a farm south of Olin the oldest of three children. Ned graduated in 1967 from Olin Consolidated High School and attended Westmar College in LeMars, IA. Upon completion of his second year at Westmar, he enrolled in the Army Reserves where he trained as a Medic at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio serving for six years after graduating from college.
Cindy & Ned at Fort Sam Houston 1970 (Facebook)
After basic training, he returned to Westmar, graduated, and received a BS in History in May of 1972. In addition to his course studies at Westmar, Ned worked in construction and at the IBP packinghouse gaining experience and knowledge in labor and plant operations. While still in college, Ned found he had a desire to return to farming and enrolled in the Farm Operations program at Northwest IA Vocational School in Sheldon in September of 1972. Ned also married Cindy Greene of LeMars that same month.
When Ned was finished with NIVS, they moved back to eastern Iowa to farm with his parents south of Olin. Ned and Cindy rented a farm on livestock shares raising corn, soybeans, and hogs. It proved to be fruitful in other areas as well with the birth of five daughters.
Laura was born in 1975, Rachel in 1977, Grace in 1982,and Ruth and Ida in 1986. In 1984 they moved to the family farm after purchasing it from Ned’s parents, Alan and Beverly Rohwedder. By 1986 Ned and Cindy were farming over 1000 acres, had a full time hired man and were farrowing to finishing 1500-1800 head of hogs per year on five different building sites.
In 1985 Ned was elected as deacon in the Assembly of God Church recently retiring from serving as treasurer for half of that time. In 1988 he joined the Olin Volunteer Ambulance Service as an ambulance driver. Ned is currently vice president of the group. In 1992 he was elected to the Olin school board and served until 2007. While a member of the board a 1.3 million dollar addition was added to the building including a new school library, weight and exercise room, community room and a public library. Ned was heavily involved with formulating the 28E agreement between the school and public library. During his 15 years of service, Ned also served on the negotiating teams as a school board representative. This included negotiating salaries and related issues with the certified and uncertified staff.
Ned is very proud of his five of his daughters and their achievements. Laura lives in Tulsa, OK and is a worship leader in her church and works in a private school. Rachel and her husband, Tim Ahrendsen, live in Oswego, IL. Rachel is an RN and has two children, Nathan 2 ½ and Ava 1. Grace and her husband, Chuck Varnum live in Cedar Rapids. Grace is a special education teacher at West Branch. Ruth lives in rural Mechanicsville with her husband, Danny Houston. She is an LPN at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, and they have a daughter Sophie who is 8 months old. Ida will be graduating in May with a degree in social work from Evangel University in Springville, MO.
Ned & Cindy Rohwedder family November, 2009 (Facebook)
Ned feels he could not have accomplished all he has in his life without a supporting, caring, and loving wife. His and Cindy’s faith, family, and community are very important to them.
Ned’s Stuff
