Rodney "Rod" Sieber

Rodney "Rod" Sieber

Jan 31, 2026

Albion, Indiana - Rodney Clifford Sieber, 98, a lifelong farmer of Albion, passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 31, 2026. Born at home May 23, 1927, to Charles F. and Grace C. (Hardendorf) Sieber in Jefferson Township, Noble County, he was the youngest of three siblings. He grew up on the family farm during the Great Depression. Times were tough and money was tight, but there was always plenty to eat. His parents, he recalled in later years, were good providers: his mother raised chickens for meat and eggs to sell, and canned vegetables from her expansive garden, while his father raised a few hogs and cattle for the family, sold honey from his beehives, and planted fruit trees for the family to harvest and can.

He was educated in one-room schools through eighth grade and spent much of his boyhood summers in carefree ways, swimming and fishing at Skinner Lake with his siblings and bringing home their catches for supper. By the time he was in sixth grade, his father's crippling osteoarthritis forced him (his father) to give up operating the farm, so Rod's older brother Jack, a freshman in high school, took over the farming. When Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 and America entered World War II, Jack was a senior, and left home for good after graduation to enlist in the Navy as a pilot. That left Rod, who had just finished his freshman year, to take over the farming and get spring planting done in 1942. It was, as he would say years later with a twinkle in his eye, his entry into "The School of Hard Knocks."

His farming operation was unexpectedly interrupted at age 27, when he was drafted into the army during the Korean War in 1954. He proudly served as an army telephone lineman in Korea for two years, crediting his army service with instilling discipline and perseverance, and giving a country boy a chance to see the world. After the war he returned home to farm. Starting in the early sixties, he spent a number of years working part-time for the Noble County Soil and Water Conservation Service; after his departure it was said it took two men to replace him.

Beginning in 1975, he started working with his nephews James and John in their family business, Sieber Brothers Excavating. They completed grueling miles-long debrushing projects on farm drainage ditches for the state, various counties, and conservancy districts. Rod was renowned for his physical stamina, strength, work ethic and personal drive, and for his ability to fell massive trees without getting killed. He took great pride in helping get the jobs done and continued working in the business until he turned 75.

In 2002, he and nine other Jefferson Township citizens joined forces as charter members of the Sweet Church Community Organization, a group dedicated to restoring and preserving the historic church in Jefferson Township. His deep ties to the church sprang from attending services there as a boy, as well as his great-grandfather's role in the founding of the church in 1875. Seeing the church restored as an architectural landmark and as a thriving community meeting space was deeply meaningful to him.

By the early 1970s, Rod was in his mid-forties and a lifelong bachelor who had been caregiver to both his parents in their old age. But when his two college-age nieces, Margo and Sharon, asked to move in with him, he welcomed them to join him. They found him to be good company - calm, even-tempered, patient, unfailingly pleasant and cheerful, and appreciative of their presence. He never once let on that they might be a burden. When the nieces moved away several years later to pursue their adult lives, he sorely missed the feminine presence in his home. Then in 1978, he began "going together" with Elizabeth "Betty" Bower, his high school classmate. The two remained together for 43 years until her passing in 2021. They enjoyed a loving, devoted and supportive relationship and he deeply grieved her passing. She was, in his eyes, his better half. The Siebers considered Betty a part of their family and the Bowers felt the same way about Rod. Both Rod and Betty attended Rehoboth Church in Jefferson Township. He professed his faith in Christ and was baptized in Skinner Lake.

Growing up in the Depression instilled in Rod a lifelong sense of thriftiness and a desire to use his ingenuity to fix things in creative and unconventional ways. He often repaired fences with bed springs or scrap metal and adapted tractor parts to repair his pickup truck. When a compressor sagged on his combine, he propped it up with a wooden log sawed to fit just right. In 1967 he bought a brand-new pickup and drove it for 20 years until the floorboards and the truck bed were mostly rusted through. He didn't care how the truck looked, as long as it got the job done. He was not concerned about appearances and did not expect life to be easy. An honest day's work was a source of great pride to him.

From an early age, Rod enjoyed his own company and appreciated his solitude. He had great reverence for all life on earth. The real goal of farming for him was to be a true steward of the land. He wanted to nurture the land rather than disturb it. He was moved by the beauty of the woods and lakes, and he enjoyed walking his property from Sweet Lake to his Fishpond and to Skinner Lake and beyond. He often said over the years that he bought his land for the woods. He cherished the trees, the wildflowers, the plants that first appeared in the woods in the spring, the birds and their songs, the chorus of frogs and the locusts, the pulsating shimmer of the lightning bugs, glimpses of deer and other creatures who lived off the land, and he was ever attuned to and protective of the wildlife on his property.

He was fiercely independent, scrupulously honest and maybe a little stubborn, like the time he refused to sign a traffic ticket for rolling through a newly placed stop sign at a quiet intersection in Albion. The Justice of the Peace fined him $50 in cash, but when he didn't have enough, he spent several hours in jail while his sister-in-law Ida rounded up more. When asked by family why he wouldn't sign, he said "Well, there's still a few things in life a man doesn't have to do if he doesn't want to and signing your name to something you don't agree with is one of them." He took pride in living up to his own unshakeable code of honor.

Rod was a quiet man of few words, but when he had something to say, it was worth listening to: powerful and profound, always compassionate, often requiring reflection on the part of the listener to process. He was a good listener as well and cared what others had to say. In his quiet way he had a great capacity to love and was a kind and supportive father figure to his family and loved ones. He was always ready to help at a moment's notice.

At the same time, he had a sense of fun - a boyish playfulness that he never lost - and a quick wit. He was known for his "zingers" or humorous one-liners that often conveyed a deeper wisdom than on first hearing. He could take a joke and didn't mind being teased about his very brief passion for homemade wine and Kawasaki motorcycles. His sense of humor remained intact even to the end of his life.

Rod will be greatly missed by his family and loved ones.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Katherine Lucille Weber, brother-in-law Glen Weber, nephews Steven Weber and David Weber, his brother Paul "Jack" Sieber, sister-in-law Ida Jean Sieber, and his beloved better half, Betty Bower.

He is survived by eight nieces and nephews: Cathy Kirkpatrick, Kevin (Shari) Weber, Patricia Sieber, Michael (Leslie) Sieber, Margo Gogel, James Sieber, John (Deb) Sieber, and Sharon Sieber. Also surviving are Betty Bower's daughters, Joan (Dean) Wilcox and Judy (Ed) Anderson, with whom he was very close, and her twin sons Stacey Bower and Stanley Bower. Left to cherish his memory as well are many great nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be held at noon, Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Sweet Church, 3015 E Lisbon Road, Albion, Indiana. Pastor Jon Stoltzfus will officiate. Burial will take place after funeral service, at Sweet Cemetery. Visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, February 7, 2026, at the church.

Donations in memory of Rod may be made to Sweet Church Community Organization.

Arrangements by Harper Funeral Homes, Albion Chapel, 771 Trail Ridge Road, Albion.

To leave a condolence or sign the online guestbook, visit www.harperfuneralhomes.com.