Kalika Valentine-Erickson/ Winonan
Rocky Rohn is more than a general maintenance worker in the Darrell W. Kreuger Library, the job he has held for almost twenty-one years. After waking up at 3 a.m. and spending his shift cleaning bathrooms, offices and floors, as well as shoveling when it snows despite a back injury that limits him to twenty minutes of shoveling per hour, he finds ways to give to people in the community.
Rocky grew up in Winona and is very familiar with the area and Winona State University.
“This is like my home away from home,” he said about Winona State.
As the father of two grown children, Rohn is able to connect to students. He has gone trout fishing and pheasant hunting, hobbies he is passionate about, with some of the students. He even took care of Tigger, the cat of Aaron Anderson, a Winona State football player. Anderson and his friend Larry, both Winona State football players, paid a visit to Gavin Quimby at Rohn’s suggestion. He said relationships like those with his fishing and hunting partners as well as Anderson and Larry are “part of the job.”
Brian Ohm, a library technician who works in cataloging, has worked with Rohn for almost ten years.
“Rocky does like to have fun at work, and I rarely see him without a smile,” Ohm said.
Rohn uses his positive attitude not only to bring lightheartedness to the library, but also to bring good to the community. Inspired by the tragic events of Sept. 11, some personal hardships and a deep religious faith, he said he decided to give what he can to people in need.
Despite living paycheck to paycheck, Rohn gives monetarily as much and as often as he can. He plays Santa Clause during the Christmas season and has committed to giving half of his money from this year’s earnings to Quimby and his family and the other half to a close friend with cancer.
Quimby is a four-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called Leukodystrophy. Rohn heard of Quimby’s story from a library co-worker and when thinking back on receiving the news, he said, “What can I do to help?”
Aside from the donations Rohn is giving on his own, he has reached out to various celebrities such as Toby Keith and Joe Mauer with the hopes of raising awareness for Quimby’s story and getting even more help for the family. He has done all of this regardless of not knowing Quimby or his family personally. Rohn said, “90 percent of the people that I donate to are people I don’t know.”
In previous years, Rohn has donated to a child with a form of epilepsy that he learned about on a flyer in the library, given care packages to troops and donated to a family wishing to adopt a 12-year-old boy from Russia.
Along with being able to donate the money he earns from playing Santa, Rohn enjoys the job.
“I play for the same families year after year. It’s always fun to watch the kids’ reaction,” Rohn said.
Many families will leave presents on the porch, and then Rohn will deliver them to the unsuspecting children.
“I have to come through the door, because I’m too fat to fit down the chimney,” Rohn said.
The wheels are constantly turning in Rohn’s head as he tries to think of more ways to help people.
“When you’re alone working in the library at 4 a.m., you get these ideas,” he said.
Giving and helping are both held dear to Rohn’s heart, he said.
“I plan on helping people this way until my health or God says I can’t do it anymore,” he said.
