Rodney Bratton

Memorial services for Rodney Bratton, of Morris, Minnesota, will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Morris, with Reverend Michael Hanson officiating.  Visitation will be on Friday, April 12 from 5-7:00 p.m. at the Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris and will continue one hour prior to the services at the church on Saturday.  Burial will be at Scandia East Cemetery at a later date. 

Rodney Dale Bratton, son of Ralph and Edna (Helgerson) Bratton, was born on October 27, 1952, in Starbuck, Minnesota.  He was raised in Framnas Township where he lived his whole life, only moving a quarter mile and across the road from the family farm.  Rodney was baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cyrus, Minnesota. He attended Cyrus Schools, graduating in 1970 from Cyrus High School. After graduation, Rodney worked for Hoffman Co-op for one summer.  In the early 70’s, Rodney began hog farming; in addition, he worked for a few years at Culligan Water and in 1976, he started his 32-year career with UPS as a delivery driver.  Through a mutual friend, Rodney was introduced to Ruth Healy while she was attending nursing school in Willmar.  Rod would often ride his motorcycle down to visit her and on June 4, 1982, Rodney and Ruth were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cyrus. During what would have been their honeymoon, Rodney and Ruth spent their time nailing plywood, wiring, and plumbing their new home; they moved in shortly after, and welcomed three children: Melissa, Michael, and Christopher. Rodney along with his family continued the hog and farming operation throughout his retirement years.

Rodney’s favorite pastimes were anytime he could spend with his family, including setting up go-karts for his sons to race, as well as multiple snowmobile trips. Some of his favorite locations were Big Horn Mountains, West Yellowstone, and the U.P. of Michigan. The family held season tickets to the Vikings games and attended several Twins games. They attended stock car races at several of the area race tracks nearly every weekend.  After his children grew older, he bought a new Harley and went on several motorcycle trips.  He also enjoyed taking road trips cross country to see his children, and enjoyed taking cruises to the East, West and South Caribbean and his favorite to Hawaii. During the summertime, he and the family would spend time remodeling and building anything that needed to be built. Rodney believed that you shouldn’t pay for something you could do yourself! Together, they have a lot of memories of the hog operation, including loading hogs and washing the barns.  Rodney's hobbies have been taking care of hogs and farming and he loved animals, and would always try to nurse them back to health.   He often brought home stray kittens for the kids. Rodney could often be found at DeToy’s or Co-op for coffee, breakfast and visiting with others – his daily trips to town for coffee sometimes turned into multiple trips. Because of his UPS career, it could be said that Rodney knew all of the roads and almost everyone in Stevens, Grant, Pope and Douglas Counties, and took the time to visit with them all, both before and after his retirement!

Rodney died on Sunday, March 31, 2024, at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, he was 71 years old. 

Rodney is survived by his wife: Ruth Bratton of Morris; children: Melissa (Darin) Biamonte of Goleta, CA, Mike (Tracy Truenow) Bratton of Cyrus, Chris Bratton of Morris; two grandchildren: Layla Truenow and Tucker Bratton; brother: Daniel Bratton of Morris; one niece; five nephews; and several cousins. He is preceded in death by his parents: Ralph and Edna Bratton; and two brothers: Wesley Bratton and Duane Bratton.