A great horseman and horseshoer, Robert A. “Red” Renchin died at 70 on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015.

Red started shoeing horses while he was still in Albert Lea High School and managed to continue through his time in the Air Force. He married Judy Snopl in 1968, but she died in 1971. He was grateful she left him with son, Scott, born in 1970. In 1972, he married Kate Emmerling and they began a new family with Scott and horses.

Red became a nationally known and loved horseshoer, passionate about caring for horses and teaching others to do the same. He ran a successful multi farrier business in southeast Wisconsin and the Chicago area, as well as in Wellington, Florida, until he was diagnosed with cancer and retired to write and teach about horseshoeing for the American Farriers Journal. He was a member of the American Farriers Association, the American Association of Professional Farriers and the International Horseshoers Hall of Fame.

A horseman as well, Red had gone from riding horses — many for their first time — at a sale barn, to showing quarter horses and then jumpers, to driving his beloved black and white spotted ponies.

In addition to Kate and Scott and his wife, Jenny Sagrillo, Red is survived by two sisters, Florence Christian of Denver and Bernice King of Minneapolis; brother, Donald, and wife, Mary Alice Renchin, of Twin Lakes; and countless cousins, nieces and nephews.

A gathering will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 at Highland House in Mequon, Wisconsin, for anyone who would like to come and share stories.

A memorial dinner will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Albert Lea Senior Center.

Red’s family said, “If you wish to memorialize Red, please spread kindness — and hearty laughter — wherever you go.”