Rooney Family Tree

Gerald "Jerry" M. Rooney, 81 of Belgrade, was 81 years of age when he passed away at Getty Street Assisted Living in Sauk Centre, on Monday, September 05, 2016.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, September 10, 2016 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Belgrade. Visitation will be 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday at the Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade where there will be a 5:30 Rosary and 7:30 p.m. parish prayer service. Visitation will continue on Saturday for one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Gerald Michael Rooney was born on May 20, 1935 in Sauk Centre, the son of Francis and Josephine (Jasken) Rooney. He grew up on the family farm near Padua with 11 siblings where he attended grade school in a one room schoolhouse and Brooten high school. On January 21, 1956, Jerry was united in marriage to Georgia Felling in Elrosa and they celebrated 60 years together. To this union three sons and three daughters were born. Initially, they made their home in St. Paul, MN where he worked for the Great Northern Railroad and was a member of the MN National Guard.

The young family moved to Belgrade in 1961 where, over the years, Jerry worked as a realtor, and as the owner and operator of Rooney's Oil Co. and Truck Stop. In his early years as an entrepreneur, Jerry worked up to seven days a week, often attending meetings after work. His first business was a root beer stand in Sauk Centre, MN which was displaced by I-94. He had sections of it moved to Belgrade after purchasing the North Star Station and Restaurant. In this location, he was active in promoting and growing Belgrade. He designed, built and managed two mobile home courts. He helped bring funding to Belgrade that built two HUD apartment buildings. He brought improvements to the fire department as a volunteer member, EMT and Fire-chief. In the late 1970's, he had the old Northstar Gas Station and Restaurant torn down and built a brand new structure that housed the gas station and Crow Country Cafe. He also promoted building the Belgrade pool and he enjoyed calling bingo for the Commercial Club. His passing away on Labor Day seems appropriate because he was a hard working individual his entire life.

Jerry was a very social person who enjoyed spending time with family and friends. He loved a good poker game, cribbage game, horse shoes, and a hearty discussion of politics and government. He was a great dancer and enjoyed dances with Georgia. They were active members of St. Francis de Sales Catholic church.

Jerry enjoyed watching his children grow. They all had the chance to work for him at the gas station and/or the restaurant. It was a lively household with a vibrant give and take of ideas and opinions. A cabin on Grove Lake was the culmination of a dream Jerry and Georgia had and it is a place that holds many happy memories for the family. Jerry was always happy to see his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; they all brought him much joy!

Life was never easy for Jerry, but he somehow managed to laugh with gusto and had a marvelous twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes and loved to tease people by giving them a"hard time". His stoicism and fortitude were admirable.

He moved to Sauk Centre in 2013 where he was a resident of Getty Street Assisted Living.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Georgia; children, Rick (Sandy) Rooney of Hayward, WI, Robin (John) Rooney-Rongitsch of Maple Grove, RoxAnne (Robert) Petterson of Black River Falls, WI, RaMona (Albert) Gruber of Sauk Centre, Rodney(Lora) Rooney of Ammon, Idaho, and Russel (Shelly) Rooney of Belgrade, MN; 17 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren; and siblings, Joan Domke, Norene Miller, Phillip (Jeanne) Rooney, Sharon Beseke, David (Karen) Rooney and Dan (Jude) Rooney; and survived by in-laws: George Zilliox, Delores and Howard Handeland, Dorothy Unger, Shirley Goering, Betty Felling; also, many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; and siblings, Kay Walz, Pat Kelley, Frances Zilliox, Richard, infant, John,Jerome; and several beloved in-laws.