Rene Engle

Rene Engle, 53, born on June 02, 1970, in Boston , MA, United States, passed away August 14, 2023. He resided in La Quinta, CA at the time of his passing. Arrangements are under the care of Forest Lawn, Cathedral City, CA.

Rene’s naturally charismatic energy attracted a lot of people into his life and he often spoke fondly about friends that he made and maintained from his childhood. He was always in search of new adventures and that desire to see the world led him to Hilo, Hawaii for college where he met his wife, Anny, the mother of his children, Kassandra and Madelynn. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1994, fueling that sense of adventure by embracing what California had to offer this East Coast Transplant. This oftentimes led to him taking up many do it yourself projects ranging from a variety of fishing trips and appreciating the local wildlife to learning how to make decorative stained glass pieces and even to coaching basketball at a local park league. He didn’t have a pre-structured plan for any of these avenues of his life, he saw opportunities to fuel his life and he took advantage of them. He worked his nights as a Sergeant with the City of Los Angeles but his days were spent being surrounded by his family.

He further took his ability to go after those opportunities by moving his family and their dog to the Coachella Valley in 2015, driving the distance to work for the city during the week and spending his days off with his family. As he moved closer into his retirement years, he never stopped taking up opportunities that interested him. He taught himself how to fly using airplane simulators and then test flying with mini-drones. It always seemed like there was some new avenue that he was interested in pursuing and he was always eager to show off those avenues to his family. When he took a break from his many adventures, he would be found enjoying the warm desert climate and watching the bats fly by in the night sky. It was during these breaks in life that he would tell stories to his family about things that he wanted to do when he finally retired and it seemed like there was nothing that was ever going to stop his ambition to do more in life.

In June of 2022, he said that he wasn’t feeling great and complained of chest pain. He drove himself to the emergency room and received emergency care for his heart at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles. A stent was put into his heart and he was told that he would have to spend the rest of his life taking various medications to help his body keep going. There were some notable changes in his demeanor at this news but it didn’t slow down his mind or his ambitions in the slightest. He spent the last year of his life embracing even more challenges and talking about bigger dreams. He was setting opportunities into motion to really enjoy the hard work that he had done all these years and he was filled with joy over what the next segment of his life would entail. That emergency visit was a scare for his family but there was this assuredness that this was just a temporary setback and he would keep on dreaming like he always did. 

Those dreams were cut short due to his unexpected passing on that Monday morning and his absence from our lives has left an ache that seems impossible to rectify. He will be missed dearly.

Family and friends are welcome to a reception gathering with refreshments provided immediately after the service from 3-5pm at Forest Lawn. Please notify the family through this email (1.og.rene.engle@gmail.com) if you wish to attend the memorial service and the reception in order to appropriately accommodate everyone. Due to the unexpected nature of his passing and in lieu of flowers, the family would greatly appreciate financial assistance in covering for memorial costs and other unforeseen expenses. Please use the contact email for any additional questions.