Donald Michael Rog

Rog, Donald M.

Age 72 of Coon Rapids, passed away on February 22, 2026. Preceded in death by wife, Ladda; brother, Richard; sister, Jean. He will be deeply missed by his daughters, Jennifer (Clifford) and Mary (Michael); and grandchildren, Vincent, Victor, Korra, Brighton, and Kit.

Donny was born in 1953 in Minneapolis to Marguerite and Stanley Rog. He grew up with his siblings, Dick, Jean, and later, Doug. He attended Holy Cross Catholic School where he met many life long friends. His interests in electronics and science were apparent at a young age where he had a chemistry set in the garage with it's own water supply, and was thankful to his mom for helping him get it. He also made a functioning radio for a science fair project in middle school. In 1970 he worked at Electronic Center Inc. as a receiving/shipping/sales clerk, and graduated from Edison High School in 1971.

After high school he joined the Air Force. Basic training was in San Antonio, TX, and school in Biloxi, Mississippi. He worked as electronic warfare systems specialist on B-52 planes. He deployed to Thailand where he met the love of his life, Ladda. In 1975 they came to the United States and got married. He was last stationed in Grand Forks, ND, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant in 1976.

After the military, he completed an Electronics Technology program at Hennepin Technical Center in 1977. He then started his career as a hardware engineer at Network Systems. In 1979 they started a family, which he has said was the happiest day of his life, and that he felt really glad that we had a good family.

He continued his career at Network Systems for decades where he also made many life long friends sharing his sense of humor with enduring hilarious engineering inside jokes. Eventually moving companies to NuSpeed/Cisco, Isilon, and then Dell, retiring in 2014.

Throughout all the years he enjoyed many fishing and hunting trips with friends and family, 35 years of annual up north trips to Leech Lake, listening to music (Kenny Loggins, James Taylor, and Chris Botti were some of his favorites) and spending time with Ladda, going on cruises, and trips to Thailand. These last few years since Ladda's passing were very difficult for him, so we are positive that being reunited together now has put him at peace.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, March 20th at Washburn-McReavy Coon Rapids Chapel (1827 Coon Rapids Blvd. NW, Coon Rapids) at 11am with visitation one hour prior.