Rodney Lorenz

On July 6, 2023, Rodney Alan Lorenz (77) died peacefully at the OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home in Peoria, IL, after living valiantly with colon cancer for the past year. He was born on August 12, 1945, in Decatur, Illinois, to Natalia ("Dolly" Jobs) and Ralph Lorenz.

Rod lived a full life. It would be easy to mark his years through his significant academic and professional accomplishments, but he was a Renaissance man who made his mark in many ways.

Some knew him as a learner, meeting him in school where he excelled at Stephen Decatur High School, Washington University in St Louis, and then at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, TN. He remained a voracious reader, trading books through the mail with his sister Leith until his death and acting as his family's personal "Google search" ("Grandpa knows everything!").

Many knew him as their physician, encountering him in the exam room or at conferences around the world. As a pediatric endocrinologist, Rod worked for the National Health Service, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and then the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, where he served as Chair of Pediatrics and Interim Dean before retirement in 2008.

Peorians often knew him as a civic leader, fellow board member, active neighbor, and volunteer.

A few intrepid friends knew him as an outdoorsman. From many family hiking and backpacking trips in the woods of Tennessee to building (by hand) his own cabin oasis in the Copper River Valley in Alaska, or to the many trips to Indiana and Minnesota's Boundary Waters with his backpacking group, Rod was most at home outside in nature right up until his final weeks.

A handful knew him as a writer. Rod wrote extensively, especially poetry, as a way to think about the world and published several poems over the course of his life.

Rarely content to sit still, Rod was a consummate maker. Sometimes this meant planting and nurturing a fruit and nut orchard, tending to his vegetable garden, foraging berries for homemade jams, or endeavoring to make wine out of almost anything (beet wine isn't as bad as you might think). He spent hours shelling hickory nuts from Tennessee or hulling Black Walnuts from the family farm while watching his beloved Green Bay Packers, Washington University Bears, and Vanderbilt Commodores, whom he cheered for (and yelled at) for decades.

But most of all, he was known by his family as a loving husband, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, and father-in-law. He felt blessed by his family and has shared his many interests with those around him in many ways. His steadfast presence in their lives will be deeply missed.

Rod is survived by his loving wife Karin, of 51 years; one son Matthew (Judith) Lorenz of Kenny Lake, Alaska; two daughters, Kate (Steve Nelson) Lorenz of Chicago, Rebekah (Matt) Getman of Upton, MA; three sisters, Sharon Knight, Phyllis (Ron) Bishop, and Leith (John Martinez) Johnson, six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A celebration of life will be held on October 1, 2023, at 1:00 pm at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Reception to follow. Gifts in Rod's memory may be made to the Peoria Riverfront Museum, 222 SW Washington St, 61602, or Heartland Health Services, 2214 University St, 61604. Mason-White Funeral Home in Washington is assisting the family with cremation. To share a memory or send a condolence to his family, visit www.masonfuneralhomes.com.