73-year-old dies after rock crashes through Jeep roof on national parks trip

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - Friends and family are expected to gather Friday to celebrate the life of a 73-year-old Missouri man who was killed when a rock broke through the roof of a Jeep at Glacier National Park last month.

Rex Schowengerdt and his wife, Chris, drove their RV from Kansas City to Glacier National Park in Montana, the first planned stop in a monthslong national parks trip for the retired couple.

The accident

Rex Schowengerdt’s sister and brother-in-law joined the couple at Glacier National Park.

On July 11, his brother-in-law was driving down a narrow road with steep cliffs near Logan Pass when a rock, which his wife estimated to weigh 45 pounds, broke through the roof of the hardtop Jeep.

Rex Schowengerdt was in the backseat with his wife when the rock hit.

Chris Schowengerdt said the rock crushed her husband’s skull, driving bone into his brain stem. He was airlifted to a hospital and died five days later on July 16 from a traumatic brain injury.

After Rex Schowengerdt was flown to the hospital, his wife and the others in the vehicle still had to make their way down the mountain.

“Even after they flew my dad away, they still had to get down the mountain, which meant it took them two and a half hours in the same car that that happened in,” Amy Prince, Rex Schowengerdt’s daughter, said.

They then spent an additional hour getting to the hospital to see him.

A love for the outdoors

Prince said her mother told her Thursday that Rex had a smile on his face when the rock hit him.

“Because mom was sitting next to dad, dad slumped into my mom, but mom said when she looked over, dad had a smile on his face,” Prince said. “It hurt initially to hear, but it kind of brings peace to me as well in a way because dad was where he wanted to be and he was happy and I know even before he left, he was happy. I saw that. I could feel that. I felt that in his hug even. He was so excited to be there, so excited to be there. He loved Glacier National Park.”

Prince described her father as a kind, loving person who had a lifelong passion for the outdoors, camping and running. Rex and Chris Schowengerdt had been married 50 years at the time of the accident.

“You can be a quiet, gentle, simple person, and still really change people’s lives, and that’s who my dad is,” Prince said. “He’s going to be greatly missed.”

An avid runner, Prince said doctors told her that her father was healthy enough that his lungs qualified for donation. He was able to donate his eyes, but died one day before surgery was scheduled to harvest his lungs.

Just before leaving on the trip, Rex Schowengerdt shared a message with his daughter that she now wants others to hear.

“He said, ‘Amy, I want you just to remember that when you’re out in nature, don’t take it for granted. Look, really look and really see, and take a second look.’ And that’s something that he taught even my kids, who are adults now. I think it’s a legacy,” Prince recalled.

Family faces financial burden

The family wanted to hold a traditional funeral and burial, but the cost of transporting Rex Schowengerdt’s body from Montana to Kansas City was too high. He was cremated instead.

Medical bills have not yet arrived, but the family said they are bracing for them. Prince said the air ambulance fee alone is expected to be significant. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help Chris Schowengerdt with expenses.

Celebration of life

A celebration of life for Rex Schowengerdt was planned for Friday at Lake Jacomo, a location chosen to reflect his love of the outdoors.

Rex Schowengerdt lived in Kansas City his entire life. Prince and her mother said anyone who knew him and would like to pay their respects was welcome to attend.