Glen Ridnour passed away on Sunday, September 13, 2026, among his many friends in Mineral Point.
Glen was born right between the Great Depression and World War II. He lived with his two sisters, Carol and Joan, his mother Jo, and his father, Glen Sr. The family moved around when Glen Sr. became a Methodist minister, living in Mobile, AL, and landing in Monroe, WI. There in his new hometown, Glen did the ’50s thing: went steady, got married, and then had three kids with his wife, Marion–Glen, Sheri, and Chad. The five of them moved to Kansas City; it was a good and joyful time as Glen completed graduate school and went on to be a minister in several churches. After realizing that this wasn’t a proper job for an agnostic, Glen moved his family to Great Falls, MT, where he was director of a community center.
After a divorce, Glen moved back to Wisconsin, where he was the director of Head Start in Madison. At the same time he expanded his antiques business. While visiting his sister Carol in Beloit, he met his future life, he just didn’t recognize it until a couple of years later, when he ran into Harriet again. With her he formed a family and continued on with his two careers: he took a faculty position at the Kansas City Medical Center and traveled more with his antiques business.
Later, he moved to Mineral Point, WI, along with Harriet and her two daughters, Sarah and Jenifer. In this new hometown, he found challenge and growth. Glen and Harriet ran a bed and breakfast, the Wilson House Inn, and developed their businesses downtown: the High Street Commons, Ridnour’s Framing, and of course, their antiques shop. Historical preservation became a new avocation, which culminated in developing Shake Rag Alley and then passing it on to a group who turned it into a school for the arts. In Mineral Point, Glen also got involved with the Cornish Society and was delighted to be made an Honorary Cornishman, only to find out, after a DNA test, that he actually was part Cornish! Because of his contributions to the Cornish Society and the Mineral Point/Redruth student exchange, in 2018 Glen was made a Bard of Cornwall in Newquay, Cornwall. He chose the Cornish name Kren Pilen, which means “Shake Rag,” to recognize and honor the role Shake Rag Alley played in bringing Cornwall to Mineral Point and to his family.
Glen’s family would like to thank the wonderful staff at the Mineral Point Health Services and at Upland Hills Hospice. You embody the best of Glen’s hometown, Mineral Point.
A celebration of Glen’s life will be held at a later date.