Roggentien Salvage: serving Iowa County since the 1930s

In all communities, businesses come and go or change ownership and name over the course of time. The most recent transition in local businesses is the sale of Roggentien Salvage to Muscatine Metals. The name eventually will change to Muscatine Metals of Marengo.

In traveling about the United States, it is common to see industries and businesses such as scrap yards located near railroad tracks for ease of transportation. According to a map of the southeast edge of Marengo in 1906, which was copied from the archives of the University of Iowa and printed in the Marengo History 1984, written by Pauline Lillie, a Bloom family was operating a scrap yard on East Adams Street. No more information is available about that yard or its owners.

The Roggentien Salvage located along Eastern Avenue at the south edge of Marengo has been in business for many years. According to an article written about the salvage yard in 1975, one of the owners at that time, Dean Roggentien, summarized the history of the yard. Ernest Roggentien, father of Dean, started the business.

According to Dean, “Times were kind of hard in the 1930s and Dad needed money. He had a truck so he collected junked iron and trucked it into Cedar Rapids.” That led to the establishment of a business which then was run by Ernest and his brother John. A third brother, Joe, joined the business until 1945. In 1946, Ernest’s son, Dean, completed his service in the United States Navy and in 1950, Ernest and his sons, Dean and Robert “Bob,” bought out the interests of John and Joe to establish the current business on Eastern Avenue. That business was then dubbed as E. Roggentien and Sons.

Not only were they dealing with scrap iron and metals but during the “slow season” in winter they bought hides, furs and wool. The wool came from area sheep farmers until the wool market shifted to higher grades of wool which then ended that business transaction. The furs and hides came from trappers and hunters along the Iowa River corridor. An ad in 1951 claimed that the Roggentien Salvage also handled glass cutting for car windows and lights.

Ernest passed away in 1967 and the owners, Dean and Bob, were joined by their two sons, Nick and Mike. With the entry of the grandsons of Ernest, the family had made this business a threegeneration enterprise.

Nick left the firm in 1976 and Robert “Bob” passed away in 1977. Dean and Mike continued as Roggentien Salvage Yard, In his interview, Dean pointed out the various changes that had come in the salvage business over the years. Early on, the Roggentiens went out to collect scrap; now it is all brought into the business.

Many scrap yards ceased operating in the 1950s when the price of scrap was low. In the 70s, the yard was drawing customers from about a 30 mile radius to the west, south, and north because there were so few scrap yards still in operation. Also in the early days of the business, the shipping of scrap iron was done by rail direct to the steel mills; eventually that shipping was handled by truck to larger scrap yards.

In 1975, Roggentien and Sons were sending most of their metal to the Alter Company in Cedar Rapids or Des Moines. From there, the scrap iron was shipped all over the world — a junked implement from Marengo might end up in a blast furnace in West Germany. Prior to the centennial celebration of Marengo in 1984, the salvage yard brought in a large crane to load a big pile of auto frames out of the yard and reduce the scrap pile. Word spread around the county that this effort was being made and farmers from around the area brought in scrap metal.

According to an article in the Pioneer Republican of May 1984, one such customer was sharing his “fishing tales” with Dean and Mike after unloading his truck. “It was easy to see that both Dean and Mike were mentally baiting their hooks. But first things first. After lunch it would be time to get back to the business at hand, moving out the junk.” But there on the counter, before the news reporter left, this note was seen tucked beneath the glass top on the counter: “God grant that I may live to fish until my dying day. And when my final cast is made, I most humbly pray, when in the Lord’s landing net I am peacefully asleep, that in his mercy I be judged ‘Good enough to keep’.”

Mike purchased the business from Dean in 1987 with Dean retiring after 41 years there. At that time, Mike began servicing several large industrial accounts to grow the business. Precious metals became a large part of the enterprise. Another building was erected to handle the extra products that were being purchased. Dean passed away in 2009, Mike passed away in 2014, and the business remained under the management of Mike’s widow, Barbara. The Roggentiens were keepers in the Marengo community for years. Thanks to the Roggentien family for establishing and operating this business for so many years and for passing the business to another salvage company which will allow the area residents an opportunity to continue the recycling of scrap iron and metal products.