By Carol Mowdy Bond
Contributing Writer
Margaret Lofgren auctioned off the estate of her late husband Richard “Rick” Lofgren on Saturday, October 10. With owner Ken Reding in charge, his Reding’s Auction Service, 2301 Sunset Drive in El Reno, handled the event which brought a large crowd into the north Piedmont area on the foggy Saturday morning.
A retired Piedmont school teacher, Margaret said, “I’m auctioning off everything in and around the barn. This is bittersweet for me. This was Rick’s joy and love. He loved working in the barn,” Margaret said.
His career was with Macklanburg-Duncan. But he was a Piedmont volunteer firefighter for more than 30 years, and he was the chief for about 10 years, Margaret said. Rick was from and grew up in Piedmont.
“We married 45 years ago, and we built this house in 1974,” Margaret said.
Numerous members of the Piedmont Fire Department were at the auction, looking over available items. Jim Bailey, retired from the Norman Fire Department after 36 years of service, was interested in the fire department memorabilia.
Reding started the auction by telling about Margaret and Rick, and said, “We’re here to liquidate Rick’s estate. Margaret decided to liquidate his tools and machinery, and his collections, to use the money for her future. All items are buy as is. What you see is what you get. When you buy something, remove it from the property today or leave it at your own risk”
Reding said, “We have two auction rings and four auctioneers going simultaneously. One in the barn, and one outside.” Reding himself acted as one of the auctioneers. He and auctioneer Tyler Ambrose auctioned off the items outside. Reding said, “Tyler was the 2015 State of Oklahoma Auctioneer Association State Champ.” Auctioneers Mark Burns and Col. Robert Barthelemy auctioned off items in the barn.
There was a massive number of items to auction off. But Reding said, “Oh yeah. But 99% of the stuff sells. I usually have very little left over.”
Ken Reding earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Central Oklahoma. Born and raised in El Reno, he attended El Reno schools, and retired after a 30 year career at the Federal Correction Institution in El Reno.
He started his auction company in 1983. “It’s more of a hobby to me,” Reding said. “And I like to provide a service to people. A lot of people don’t realize it’s available, and it obtains top dollar for most things the seller auctions off.”
Reding’s Auction Service is known for its involvement with estates, farms, liquidations, real estate, consignments, machinery, and appraisals. To connect with Reding’s Auction Service, go on the web to redingsauctionservice.com or call (405) 262-2412, or email redingsauction@coxinet.net.
