Richard Lee Streng

Richard "Rick" Streng, age 67, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend passed away May 1, 2023, after living with liver cancer for the past 3 years. Preceded in death by his parents Richard F. (Dick) and Phyllis Hodgins Streng, and sister Susan Jensen. Rick grew up on his father's dairy farm in Shawano, WI, where he developed a passion for learning about how things work and a love for the natural world. After his mother died when he was only 3, his father and Aunt Hazel made sure their love of reading was passed on. Rick fondly recalled the eagerly anticipated visits the library bookmobile made to their farm. Rick attended the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering in 1978. Upon graduation Rick moved to Minneapolis after being hired to work in the Nuclear Analysis department at Northern States Power (NSP), now Xcel Energy. Always innovative and adaptive, Rick branched out into energy marketing software development and trading systems in the private sector. In a lucky twist of fate, Rick's UW engineering classmate and colleague at NSP, Laura McCarten, introduced him to her close friend and former Madison roommate Kay Kroeff, who had recently moved to Minneapolis to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota. Rick and Kay married in 1984 and had two daughters, Elaine, JD and Martha, PhD, of whom Rick was immensely proud. We all learned so much from Rick. Not only because of his natural curiosity and wide ranging interests, but his insights gained from personal life experiences that instilled him with endless kindness and humility. Rick was a lover of poetry, music, and clocks; a sailor with a captain's license, fabulous cook, gardener, forager, space travel enthusiast, and geologist. An engineer in every sense of the word, there was nothing that he couldn't build or fix. Above all else, Rick valued family and was the glue that held his together. From diagnosis in February 2020, through the entire course of his illness, Rick and his family received invaluable support and treatment from an exceptional medical team. We are immensely grateful to Jill May, his Oncology Nurse Navigator at the Allina Cancer Institute, and Drs Jack Lake and Vinit Amin for their tireless efforts in treating Rick. Rick is survived by his wife Kay Kroeff Streng, daughters Elaine Exner (Dan) and Martha Streng (Zoé Henrot), granddaughter Margot Lee Exner, brother

Tributes

Richard Lee Streng

April 5, 1956 - May 1, 2023

Tributes

Richard Lee Streng

April 5, 1956 - May 1, 2023

We are here for you 24x7

Call us and get help now

(612) 377-2203