Leroy “Roy” Gustav Haske, a resident of Roseville, CA, passed away peacefully on January 8, 2021 at Pleasant Home Care at the age of 99. He is survived by his loving family and a memorial in his honor will be held at 1:00 PM, Friday May 7, 2021, on Barns Bluff in Redwing, MN. Roy’s family immigrated from Germany, settling in Redwing MN, where he was born on May 7, 1921 to Gustav Haske and Lillian Pape (Haske). As a boy, he was fascinated with electronics, and in grade school took classes required for college entrance, besides his standard grade school lessons. At 21, he was drafted, reporting for duty on July 3rd, 1942 to the US Army 95th Infantry Division, 379th Infantry Regiment, also known as the “Iron Men of Metz”. During his tour of duty in Germany, he worked as a heavy equipment mechanic. He married Floreine Touble while on leave in 1943, at Fort Benning, Georgia and was Honorably Discharged on November 21, 1945, receiving the Bronze Star, including many other medals and badges of service. He then returned to Red Wing, where he joined the Aurora Ski Club, competing as a ski jumper throughout the Midwest and played minor baseball for Red Wing teams. In 1947 Roy and best friend Ernest “Ernie” Friberg opened the Haske & Friberg Garage, a small welding business on Main St., open for two years until Roy relocated to Salt Lake City in 1950, with a job at Engineering Research Associates (ERA). In 1951, he relocated his wife and daughter to Redwood City, CA with a job at Ampex Corp. where he worked for 5 years, and was divorced from Floreine. In 1956 he accepted a job as a civilian contractor at the Pacific Proving Grounds during the Atomic Bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, during Operation REDWING, a coincidence to his hometown. In 1957 he accepted a position at Aerojet in Rancho Cordova, CA and promoted to Senior Manufacturing Engineer involved in the design and fabrication of liquid fueled engines for large defense missiles and was instrumental in designing recording consoles for Apollo missile engine components. In 1968, Roy met Cleone Wangan and married in 1983. They bought a piece of property in Shingle Springs, CA, where prior to his retirement in 1983, he spent 3 ½ years building the home himself on the property purchased, including hauling 9 tons of roof tiles, four tiles at a time up a ladder. Upon retirement, Roy and Cleone purchased a motorhome and spent 17 years traveling through Mexico, Canada, and visited nearly every state in the United States. They played golf, loved to dance, and moved to Silver Lakes near Victorville where they built another beautiful, and eventually moved back to the Sacramento area closer to family where Cleone proceeded him in death.
Leroy had a passion for golf, poetry and Dixieland music. He was admired and respected by everyone he met. He loved helping anyone with their projects, especially the challenging ones. He was a strong, proud man who lived a long full life. He will be dearly missed by all who loved him.
