Randy Reents

Randy Reents, age 71, of Villard, MN, died Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood following a brief illness. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Friday, April 22nd at St. John's Lutheran Church in Villard. Visitation will be from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. on Thursday at the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Glenwood and will continue on Friday at the church, beginning at Noon and running until the time of service. Interment will be in Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery. Arrangements are with Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home of Glenwood.

Randy Alan Reents, the son of Donald Reents and Lorraine (Bagstad) Reents Daniels, was born on October 30, 1950 in Glenwood, MN. He grew up on a farm near Villard, MN with his three siblings. Randy attended Villard public schools and graduated from Villard High School in 1968. After high school, he attended Moorhead State College where he majored in mechanical engineering. Although he left college before graduating, Randy always had racing in mind and was a natural when it came to being a mechanic on anything, be it race cars, snowmobiles, or go-karts and had a passion for it his entire life. He was the best of the best. Randy’s first love was racing, which he did for over 50 years, including being part of Dick Trickle’s racing team from 1982-1987. The Reents Brothers racing team was well known around the area.

Randy was car owner and mechanic for Reents Brothers Racing and involved in racing and the Viking Speedway for over 50 years, including being on the Board of Director’s for many years. The Reents’ brothers didn’t take the normal path that many who end up in the Viking Speedway Hall of Fame take to get there. The brothers didn’t grow up surrounded by racing. It wasn’t until his brother, Gary, was 21 and Randy was 19 that the older of the two brothers came up with an idea that would ultimately change their lives. Winning point titles wasn’t their primary concern. As Randy said, “Championships, to me, they weren’t that important. You’d have to spend money and do things that you didn’t want to do and it would hurt you; a lot of times it would hurt you in the long run.  So we just said, ‘let’s just go win races and have fun.” Randy always said the brothers were as fast as they could afford to be. Gary said, “Randy was the reason we were fast, he lived race cars and thought about racing day and night and he built cars that ran good and fast.  He made me look good.” Randy said the same, “He made me look good too.”  It was a mutual deal. Although Randy’s priority was the Reents’ Brothers racing team, he did mechanic for others in the dirt track racing circuit including DeWayne Clark. Randy was inducted into the Viking Speedway Hall of Fame in 2015.

Although he is mostly known for his stock car abilities, Randy made an impact at the highest levels of snowmobile racing including being tech director for John Daniel’s cross-country racing series ISOC. His job was to make sure everyone was competing on a level playing field. Some of the highlights of those years were racing the famed I-500 from Winnipeg to St Paul. Because of Randy’s success, the team for which he was a mechanic won every race one year resulting in an invite for the team to race in Sweden.

By the mid-80s, Randy was quite well known for his mechanic abilities and was hired by Ski Doo racing to be the mechanic for Todd Elmer. With Randy’s tuning, Todd became one of the winningest drivers on the circuit, including winning the world-famous Eagle River World Championship.

Randy will be remembered for his great laugh, the twinkle in his eye, his love of family, and strong faith. Even though he had very little, he was very rich in so many ways. The friendships he made over the years lasted his entire lifetime. Even as the end came near, Randy kept his strong faith. So much in fact, his pastor used him as the basis for his Bible Study discussing what strong faith can do even when you endure pain and suffering. His family has been told many times what an inspiration Randy was to many. They are so glad he is finally at peace and in his happy place.

Randy Alan Reents went to his eternal home on April 16, 2022, after a short battle with cancer, however, he had previously endured years of pain from rheumatoid arthritis. Randy is survived by his three siblings, older brother, D. Gary (Jane) Reents, of Villard, and younger sisters, Kathleen Reents, of Davidsonville, MD, and Lisa (Jeff) Lindquist of  Maple Grove; along with five nieces, Heather (Jamie) Livingston of Kenmare, ND, Jessie (Jarad) vander Hagen of Villard, Lindsey (Trevis) Beckwith of Glenwood, Alex Ryan and Megan (Nick) Ryan, both of Denver, CO; two nephews, Kyle (Jackie) Reents of Villard and Shane Lindquist of Maple Grove; two aunts, Kathleen Klug of Alexandria and Marlys Branby of Starbuck; an uncle, Roger (Pat) Reents of Glenwood; his step-father C. Harold Daniels of Mission, TX; along with 12 great nieces and nephews; many cousins; and countless friends.

Randy was preceded in death by his father, Donald Reents in 1967, and his mother, Lorraine Reents Daniels in 2009.

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