Dennis Dean (Denny) Ridenour was born to Valda (Val) Michael Ridenour and Wayne Ridenour on February 15, 1954, in Algona, Iowa. He passed away October 11, 2025, at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the age of 71.

The Ridenour family moved to Minnesota where Denny spent most of his childhood and teenage years near Dexter in a two-story house on a small farm with his parents and three siblings: Linda, Barbara, and Allen. The family worked after school throwing down silage, feeding cows, cleaning the barns, gathering eggs, and feeding hogs. Denny remembered many hours of tractor-driving and working in the big garden that Val always planted. When Denny was 15, his dad died. Life would never be the same. Wayne had been sick for about 6 years with Crohn's disease. Whereas Wayne always had a full-time job outside of the farm, Denny dropped out of school and picked up outside jobs to help the family survive.

In 1972 Denny married Colleen Muriel Krull in Springfield, Missouri, on June 17th. As a young married couple, Denny and Colleen moved around a lot in southeast Minnesota. Denny worked at a handful of jobs where he learned how to run a backhoe, work on foreign cars, and build grain silos. In 1978 Denny bought his first semi-truck, and he put it to use hauling trailers for companies in and out of Iowa and Missouri. Later he hauled swinging meat to New York City (Lower Manhattan, specifically): he learned to carry a gun in his truck after seeing a shoot-out at a convenience store and having his truck stolen.

In 1981 Denny went to Oklahoma to work in the oil field with his brothers-in-law. Colleen and the kids, Roshelle and Wayne, followed in 1984. Moving to Oklahoma was the best move Denny and Colleen ever made, and life began to get a little easier. Denny was then working for Hamm & Phillips and later became a contract pumper for oil companies, working 7 days a week. In the 1990s, Denny bought a couple of semis and hired Greg Edwards to truck over the road with him. They would go to Liberal, Kansas and pick up boxed meat and haul it to Hickory, North Carolina, where they would pick up furniture, and all the way back they would stop and deliver the furniture at different stores. In 2003 one of Denny's acquaintances told him if he started a roustabout company, Chesapeake Energy would hire him, so that's what he did, and DRC Service Company was born. In the early years, Denny ran the business with his son Wayne and Greg. Later, his son-in-law Rodney joined DRC until it ended in 2018. Through DRC Denny was able to help many people.

Denny enjoyed riding his motorcycles, and later he discovered a hobby that came unexpectedly: reading. He had never read a book up until 2014, but by 2025 he had read the entire Longmire series by Craig Johnson and the entire Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box, among others, and would patiently wait for new books by his favorite authors to come out. Denny and Colleen always enjoyed hosting Christmas and Thanksgiving at their house with everyone there. They often shared supper with their kids and their families throughout the week as everyone lived close by.

Losing Colleen in 2021 was the hardest thing he had ever done. He quickly moved to the country north of Weatherford, Oklahoma, to find some solace. The second hardest thing he ever did was fight cancer, which eventually took his life.

Denny is survived by his daughter Roshelle and her husband Rodney Wherritt and their three daughters: Regan Lemieux and her husband Hayden and their two daughters, Hazelle and Hillery; Rosalind White and her husband Kelby and their two sons, Walker and Bode; and Rayne Wherritt. He is survived by his son Wayne Ridenour and his wife Rita and their three daughters: Ali, Taylor, and Shelby Ridenour, all of Thomas. He is also survived by his three siblings: Linda Ridenour, Barbara Lent with her husband Kevin all of Minnesota, and Allen Ridenour of Georgia. Denny was preceded in death by his parents and his wife.

Denny's graveside service will be October 18, 2025, at Mound Valley Cemetery in Thomas, Oklahoma, at 10 am with a time of food and fellowship following.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his name to:

Corn Bible Academy

22387 E 1070 Rd

Clinton, Oklahoma, 73601.