Charles "Tom" Reffner

Tom Reffner, age 82 of Rudolph, WI went home to Our Lord & Savoir on Friday, Oct. 20,2023 with his
loving wife and family by his side.
Tom was born in Peoria, IL on Nov. 21, 1940 to Don and Helen (Harrington) Reffner. The family later moved to Junction City, WI in 1947. Tom graduated from Rudolph High School in 1958. After graduating he worked at Clark gas station and then began his career as a pipefitter with a passion for instrumentation. He retired from pipefitting working for Tweet Garot Mechanical.
Tom married Delores (Dee Dee) Johnson on Sept. 9, 1961 at the Moravian Church in Wis. Rapids, WI. They were married for 62 years. He is survived by his wife, Dee Dee, sons; Baird (Sherry), Bryan (Reyne) and grandson Colin (Amy) and great grandchildren; Mya and Eli Reffner. Also survived by sisters; Lucrecia (Don) Ross, Jessica Oates, Brother-in-law, Ron (Jackie) Johnson, sisters-in-law, Jean Grimm, Lorraine Abbott, Arlene (Greg) Martin, Rita Reffner, and many nieces and nephews.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Don & Helen Reffner, brother James Reffner, brothers-in-law; Stan Johnson, Dick Maeder, Bud Abbott, Lyle Kussman and Eldon Grimm, sisters-in-law; Marilyn Maeder and Helen Kussman.
While Tom enjoyed his career as a pipefitter and teaching the trade to others, his true passion in life came through racing. He started racing in 1959 at Stratford Speedway. Those early years involved racing with his lifelong friends Marv Marzofka, Dick Trickle and Jim Back. His racing career spanned over 40 years with numerous achievements. Some of the highlights from his career include: Winning over 400 features with 67 of those wins in 1975, Winner of the World Cup 400 in 1976, a three-time Oktoberfest Champion, a three-time CWRA Champion (Tom was one of the pioneers that created the CWRA series), a
two-time ARTGO Champion and numerous track championships. He was also one of the legendary Super American Knights, the "Blue Knight". Tom was also instrumental in developing the Dick Trickle Memorial Project located in Rudolph, WI.
Tom thoroughly enjoyed his 40 years of racing and was a great mentor to his sons, Baird and Bryan and his grandson, Colin in their racing careers. Tom has greatly impacted racing because of his passion and devotion to the sport. He was a tremendous influence to many racecar drivers and was also respected and admired by many fans.
Tom's family offers special thanks to Dr. Raina and the nurses on the fifth floor at Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital for all their special care and kindness given to Tom and his family.
A memorial service will be held Saturday October 28, 2023 at the Bethany Lutheran Church in Sigel, WI at 11:00am.
Visitation will be held on Friday October 27, 2023 at the Ritchay Funeral Home from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and on Saturday morning at the church from 10:00am until time of service at 11:00am.
Ritchay Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.