GEORGE ENGEBRETSON, SR.

          Nearly every small town, at least in the years past, has, or had, an individual who touched the lives of almost every family, and the community itself.  In the town of Rembrandt, one such individual has been recognized as Mr. Baseball.                 

          On the easternmost edge of this village is a youth baseball field which provides an opportunity for the youngsters of the area to experience the game in a truly idealistic Iowa setting.  In right field of this park, near the scoreboard is a sign designating the grounds as “GEORGE ENGEBRETSON FIELD”. 

          George worked tirelessly from the late 1940’s to the early 1970’s coaching, promoting, and seeking financing to provide the community of Rembrandt with some great summertime entertainment, in the form of baseball.  George saw the need in the young males of the community for an outlet of their youthful energy and competitive spirit.  The summer program that George built became a legacy in northwest Iowa during his coaching career. 

          George faced some tough going during the infancy of the program and it took a few years to develop a winning tradition.  He possessed a competitive spirit which seemed to attach itself to his players.  One old timer commented about George “If there was a ball involved and points to be scored he was going to try it and probably do well”.  George played football at Linn Grove in high school,  and at State Teachers College in Cedar Falls and Morningside College in Sioux City.  Rumor has it he was offered a chance with the Chicago Bears but opted for family and small town living.

          Once George’s program was in place he worked the entire gamut -  coaching boys as young as five through all ages, including a town team.  He coached as many as seven different teams through the summer seasons from the teeniest kids or “Wee Wee’s” through adults “Town Team”.  In between fell the Pee Wee’s, Little League, Pony League, Babe Ruth, Midgets, and Junior Legion.

George held practices, dragged and lined the diamond for games, drove countless miles shuttling players and kept the equipment in the trunk of his car.  “George’s Place” his family-oriented tavern, was the center of fundraising activities for the ball program and a great place to grab a burger and coke or whatever while replaying the latest game. 

          George held other positions in the community.  He was a member of the fire department, city council, and American Legion.  He even operated the local theatre for a time.  George was an all-around promoter of the community of Rembrandt.

George Engebretson Field was dedicated while George was still alive and the dedication ceremonies had to be one of the proudest days of his life.  If you look up into the clouds out in right center field on a summer day, when the field is full of youngsters chattering, running, throwing, hitting and just having a grand time, you know he is watching the game with a big smile on his face. 

(Written by George Engebretson, Jr.)

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George Engebretson - by Bill McGrew

It so happened that I was on George’s first baseball team, along with Don Whitaker, Floyd Binder, Dale Obman, and I can't remember who else. It was a great feeling to have our own summer team and travel to other towns to play. There were only about two other town teams at that time – I think Marathon and Truesdale. We played Marathon about 7 times that first year, but we didn't care because we were just having fun and loved the game, win or lose.

George was a great person; he never got mad at us and was always cheerful, no matter how we played. I always thought it was a great opportunity and honor to play on his first team ever. George loved the game more than anyone I know, and was always ready to talk about the last game when we went into his place on Saturday night to read his comic books. We very seldom bought one but would just read them and put them back, and he never said a word about it. He would scoot us out of the booths though, if he had a paying customer, so then we had to stand up and read them. I wonder what he did with them after every one of the kids had read them. There were always new ones on the shelves. And there was never a magazine on the shelf that couldn't be read by the whole family.

What fond memories George generated for a lot of us kids over the years. I was away when George really got the sport going in Rembrandt and never knew how much he dedicated to it until many years later. I do know that I will never forget those first years. We were the privileged few. George was a truly great man, dedicated man, and town supporter. I don't think that anyone who ever met him will forget him.