John Herbert Reger, 88 years old, resident of rural New York Mills, passed away, after a battle with cancer, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Perham Living in Perham.  

John was born January 28, 1938, in New York Mills, to John and Rose (Herber) Reger. He grew up north of New York Mills. John graduated from New York Mills High School with the class of 1956. Following graduation, John joined the Minnesota National Guard and proudly served his country for 10-15 years.  

He proudly took over the family farm from his dad, John Reger Sr. Although the farm required a lot of hard work, he took time for hunting, fishing, gardening, reading and live music. He also drove school bus for 55 years. He really enjoyed driving bus and getting to know all the kids.  

When Johnnie was younger, he and his brother, Bernard enjoyed deer hunting together. If one didn’t get a deer, the other one did and they always had help from dad to process the venison for the freezer. His little brother, Robert, was too young to go hunting, but eventually he got his turn to help. When Johnnie had an accident with his motorcycle and needed help with work on the farm, Robert put college on hold and came home to help dad with the chores.  It was wonderful that Robert and his sister Rose Mary were able to be there to help. 

On March 21, 1980, John married Kay Nurmi, the love of his life. They had a wonderful little girl named Crystal. John and Kay loved “day” road trips with family and friends. Living in the country made John happy. John and Kay enjoyed hosting “farm day” in the fall at their hobby farm, where friends and family would enjoy great food, wagon rides, and visiting and catching up with one another. John really liked feeding the birds every morning and watching them and other wildlife out the kitchen window. John and Kay raised horses, llamas, and guinea chickens on their hobby farm and mainly kept them as pets. Many mornings after their farm chores you could find John enjoying a sweet treat and a cup of coffee on the patio with Kay. John loved flowers, plants, flower beds, wildlife and western décor. John very much loved and valued his family and friends. He will be missed very much and will forever be in our hearts! 

John is survived by his daughter, Crystal; brothers, Bernard (Mary Lou) and Robert (Jo); sister, Mary Ann Reis; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends.  

John was preceded in death by his wife, Kay; his parents, John and Rose Reger; sister, Rose Mary Koplin and brother in-laws, Jim Koplin and Louie Reis; nephews, Kenneth Koplin, Kevin Koplin, Timothy Reger and stepchildren, Bradley Nurmi and Roxanne (Nurmi) Stanfield. 

Visitation will be 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. followed by the Funeral Mass at 12 p.m. at St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Perham with lunch following from 1-2 p.m. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. in the Richville Village Cemetery in Richville. 

Schoeneberger Funeral & Cremation Service, Perham, MN (218) 346-5175 www.schoenebergerfh.com