Roderick René LeBron

Roderick “René” LeBron, was born on August 6, 1947 to Roderick and Mae Allene LeBron in Omaha, NE. His mother died in a car accident when he was under 2 years old, so he was raised by Rod and Lucille LeBron for most of his life. He had 6 younger siblings, Michelle “Scuffie,” Melanie “Muffin,” Lance “Puffer,” Candace “Fluff,” Deirdre “Tuffs,” and Roche “Nuffy.” Rene attended Blessed Sacrament and Christ the King for grade school and graduated from Creighton Preparatory School. He attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, but left before he graduated.  

René spent many years working at “the shop” with his dad, manufacturing vending machines. He was a problem-solver and inventor and patented several parts to make the vending machines work better. He soon learned that patents are only worth the money spent on lawyers defending them and although he invented numerous things throughout the rest of his life, he didn’t patent any more of them. René stopped working at the vending machine company in the 80’s and took over the electrical business his grandfather started in 1906, L Electric. René was an electrical contractor until he retired.

René met Nancy Hutchinson because she lived in the same apartment building as his friend. They got married November 19, 1976.  Their life was never boring and they remained married for 47 years, staying true to their wedding vows through richer and poorer, good times and bad, til death did they part. They had 8 children, Deseré, Marcy, André, Heather, Sommer, Lacy, Beau, and Trey, and he often referred to us by our “number”.  Nadia was considered “number 9” as his first grandchild who lived next door as she was growing up.  They have 10 grandchildren so far: Nadia Johns, Hilary Boos, Briette Kesterson, Arabella Kesterson, Charlotte Smith, Harry Laack, Kairi Wehrer, Kyrah Dailey, Ryann Dailey, and Charlotte (Chuckie) Dailey. They had 4 great grandchildren, Bentley, Cooper, Tucker, and Hudson Boos. 

Family was incredibly important to René. We often worked together and played together.  He worked with his dad for years and later with his brother in electrical.  His sons all worked with him as electricians at some point, and all of his children learned how to work together as a team no matter what we had been volunteered to help with. 

Sunday was family day and he insisted that all of his children be present every Sunday for some activity or adventure with the family, even when his teenaged children complained.  We were “forced” to do things like go to the lake for a cookout, drive to nearby parks for nature walks, or hand pick a Christmas tree and most importantly spend time together as a family. These Sundays sparked many annual traditions like apple picking and camping, and as adults we’d still congregate at Mimi and Papa's house nearly every Sunday for dinner and family day.

René took his family on camping trip vacations nearly every year, usually to National Parks. Somehow, he always found a spot next to a stream to stop to camp or have a picnic so the kids could wade in the water and cool down. Whenever possible he took the scenic route and said it was for mom, even if it resulted in a lost tire or getting stuck in the sand.

René had a big heart and was always “only 7 digits away” when you needed something.  He joked he was “Rescue 1”, the one everyone called when they needed help like their car broke down, or they needed to know how to fix something at home.  He read the newspaper every day, loved science magazines, and he really seemed to know a little about everything.  He taught us so many things and was really great at giving problem solving advice.  He was a good and loyal friend and was generous about inviting people into our family events. 

René was a physically strong and strong-willed man with a loud and instantly recognizable voice and crushing handshake .  He loved his jeans, leather vest and cowboy hat.  He wasn’t perfect and could be grumpy, but always got over it quickly (usually more quickly than we did).  He was a goofball and told dad jokes to pretty much anyone who would listen. He wore goofy hats and loved to make people smile. He got “doorknobs”, gave bunny ears in pictures, and made silly faces at babies in church. He told Nancy his job was to make her laugh every day, and most days he succeeded.