Noreen Rae "Butch" Rogness

Noreen “Butch” Rogness, 82, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, passed away on March 7, 2026, from complications of dementia.

An icon of Des Moines’ East Side, Butch was known to generations of children. Together with her husband Paul, she raised three sons and a daughter through Garton Elementary, Goodrell Middle, and East High School. For 34 years she served as a Special Education Associate at Garton, where dozens of special-needs students knew her simply as “Ms. Butch” and were shaped by her steady love and care.

After retirement, Butch and Paul moved to Pleasant Hill but remained deeply involved in the East High community. They founded and ran the annual East High Golf Classic, which completed its 31st season in 2025 and has raised nearly a million dollars for the school. She was also famous for her baking, regularly sharing chocolate sheet cake and other treats with friends and family, often leaving them near the 9th green at Copper Creek. In 2015 she received the Outstanding Contributor Award from the Golf Classic in recognition of her many years of service and generosity.

Born Noreen Rae Nimmick on February 13, 1944, in Seattle, Washington, to Richard and Mary (Bratlie) Nimmick, she moved as an infant to Lake Park, Minnesota. The youngest daughter in a small-town farm community, she was a cheerleader and prom queen, yet her sister Shari gave her the nickname “Butch,” which stayed with her for life. In high school she met Paul Rogness, the football quarterback and student-body president, who became her husband on September 12, 1964. They celebrated 61 years of marriage in 2025. Paul’s work brought them to Des Moines in 1970, where they raised their family on the East Side for 23 years.

Butch is survived by her husband Paul of Pleasant Hill; sons Christopher (Juanne) of Salt Lake City, Utah, Matthew (Carlie) of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Barrett (Michelle) of Pleasant Hill; daughter Stephanie (Kelly) of Ankeny, Iowa; grandchildren Nicholas, Finley, Rebecca, Samantha, Hadley, and Rilynn; and her sister Shari Kohoutek of Great Falls, Montana.