*Vernon Rood, businessman, lay minister, and World War II veteran, of Sparta, Wis., died of heart failure in Viroqua, Wis. on Aug. 24, 2014. He was 87.

Vernon Leroy Rood was born in Bode, Iowa on April 4, 1927 to Joseph and Alice Larson Rood. His first job was as a paperboy, and when he graduated from Bode High School in 1944, he received a “Des Moines Register” scholarship. With this scholarship, he attended Buena Vista College in Iowa for one year. While there, he played on the varsity basketball team.

In early 1945, Vernon enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After basic training, he was stationed in San Francisco, where he remained in the service for some months before and after the end of WWII. Vernon had an excellent tenor voice, and he sang in the Bluejacket Choir in the Navy. He maintained his love of singing throughout his life.

Vernon attended St. Olaf College, where he graduated with a B.A. degree in economics in 1949. While at St. Olaf, he met his future wife, Marilyn “Joyce” Neperud Rood ’49. They were married in 1948, and over the next few years, they had four children, all of whom were educated in the Sparta public schools. Vernon and Joyce celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2008.

Rood worked in the business community of Sparta for over half a century, beginning in 1954 as accountant and office manager for Hiawatha Valley Dairies Cooperative. In 1961, he left that job to start his own accounting firm. While supporting a family of six on his accountant’s income, he saved up, with difficulty, $1,000.

Starting with only that $1,000, Vernon bought the Willgrubs’s ice business. The ice business served as collateral and provided the site for the construction of the motel that he envisioned. Along with a business partner, Vernon built Heritage Motel in 1968. Until its demolition in 2005, it was one of the premier motels in Sparta.

In 1968, Vernon accepted a position as Head of Accounts Receivable with the RCA Corporation in Indianapolis. He moved his family to Indiana and remained there until 1984, when he moved back to Sparta. While in Indiana, he acquired two 60-unit motels. In 1994, he acquired the defunct Kamp Dakota campground in Oakdale, and over several years he built it up into a going concern, which became ultimately a KOA franchise.

Vernon’s business formula was to buy run-down businesses and to build them up into profitable enterprises. Together with his wife Joyce and his son Bill, they provided clean, comfortable, well-maintained rooms and camping sites, together with friendly, courteous service. They were known also for their fair and generous treatment of their employees, for which the governing rule was: “Treat your employees with respect.”

Vernon also served the Sparta business community in a variety of posts, including as president of the local Jaycees. In 1960, the Jaycees voted him the outstanding young businessman for that year. In that same year, he and the Jaycees welcomed Robert Kennedy to Sparta, who at that time was campaigning for his brother John Kennedy in the Wisconsin presidential primary. A photo of Rood, Kennedy, and other Sparta business leaders survives from that occasion.

Vernon was a long-time member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where he served in a number of posts, including Sunday School teacher and superintendent, and as a member of the church council. As a Sunday School teacher, he was dynamic and inspiring. One of his students, David Meissner, later credited Vernon’s teaching with influencing his decision to become a Lutheran minister.

In later years, Vernon gave numerous Sunday morning talks at Christian congregations in the western Wisconsin area on behalf of the Gideons. Eventually, he received training in jail ministry, and he worked as a Gideon lay minister in the Monroe County jail.

Vernon was a lifelong member of the Republican Party, and he served as president of the Monroe County Republicans.

A stroke at age 78 forced Vernon to retire and to sell his businesses. Although in the years after his stroke he was increasingly wheelchair-bound, his mind remained sharp. As always, he was supported by his optimistic outlook and his strong religious faith. He was always quick to smile, joke, and laugh.

Vernon is survived by his four children, Vernon “Paul” Rood ’71 and wife Margaret Goergen-Rood ’72, Darcy Massof and friend Steven Engh, Nancy Goodman and husband Mark, and William Rood; six grandchildren, Joseph Rood and wife Sarah, Julia Rood ’07, Eric Massof, Allison Massof, Natalie Goodman, and James Goodman; and a brother and sister-in-law, Richard and Judy Rood. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers Joseph, Orville, and Wilford; and his sister, Erma. His wife of 60 years, Joyce Neperud Rood, died in 2009.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorials in his name to The Gideons International in Nashville, Tenn.