Robert "Bob" Rau

Robert “Bob” Rau, age 80, of St. Cloud, died on November 21, 2021 at the St. Cloud Hospital. Graveside services with military honors will be held on Friday, December 3, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at the St. Joseph Cemetery.

Arrangements are with Daniel Funeral Home, St. Joseph. 

Bob was born on August 31, 1941 in St. Cloud to Donald and Alice (Sitzman) Rau. He grew up in St. Joseph and attended St. Cloud Technical High School, graduating in 1960. He was a talented pitcher for the high school baseball team and one of his proudest accomplishments was pitching a no-hitter.   

After high school he proudly served in the U.S. Navy for 4 years and was stationed in Oahu, Hawaii. After returning home he held a variety of local bartending jobs and he also worked as a draftsman for the Cold Spring Granite Company. He moved to Las Vegas for a brief period of time in the late 1960’s where he worked as a bartender at the famous Stardust Hotel.

He owned “Bob’s Koil Service”, a tap beer line cleaning service, for over 25 years. If you enjoyed clean tasting tap beer from any local bar or restaurant in the 80’s or 90’s, you have Bob to thank.

Bob was very passionate about his coffee and he also loved to cook. His favorite food was anything he could add lots of butter to, including any type of bread and his nightly bowl of homemade popcorn. He loved all types of sports and he enjoyed catching up on the Minnesota Wild games with his sister Diane. His favorite sport was golf and as a lefty himself, he had a special fondness for left-handed golfers including Phil Mickelson and his grandson Mason.

He was a member of the St. Joseph American Legion Post 328 and St. Cloud VFW Post 4847.

Bob is survived by his two daughters, Jennifer (Lance) Sunder of Cold Spring and Julie (Jason) Roeder of St. Cloud; his four grandchildren Mason, Grace, McKenna, and Carson; and his four sisters, Jean Daiker, Diane Bettermann, Mary Burrows, and Donna (Joe) Rau-Link. He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family would like to thank the staff at the St. Cloud Hospital, especially those in the ICU, for their compassionate care of Bob during his final days.