Born in Astoria, Oregon, April 18, 1942, Regner Alvin Capener was raised in Alaska, spending most of his growing-up years in Eskimo villages. The oldest of two sons of pioneering missionary parents, Alvin & Lillian Capener, he grew up helping his father build numerous churches throughout the arctic. Living in remote Eskimo villages afforded the Capener boys little opportunity for a traditional education, and when it was time to attend High School, none were available. The State of Alaska provided an opportunity at that time for qualified students in remote villages to get their education through an agreement with the University of Nebraska, so Regner skipped High School, instead taking courses by correspondence with the U of N in Lincoln.
At 17 years of age, he attended Southwestern Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas, and later spent a year at Bethany Bible College in Santa Cruz, California before taking extension studies in Greek and Hebrew with Fuller Theological Seminary.
Although he was not ordained as a minister until 1971 while serving as associate pastor at Full Gospel Assembly in Salt Lake City, Regner Capener actually began public ministry at the age of 16. In the years since, he has pastored numerous churches and been involved in various pioneering ministries, following somewhat in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and some 20+ generations of Capeners before him.
While ministry has been his principal vocation, it has not been the means for supporting his wife and children. Beginning while still in early grade school, he began to develop skills in mathematics and engineering. Inspired by his father’s daily radio program which began when he was seven years of age, he began experimenting with electronics, and as a teenager, built several low-power radio stations in villages along the arctic coast. With a couple of breaks in the intervening years, Regner has been in radio and television broadcasting ever since. Some of his broadcast endeavors include the following:
Chief Engineer for KTLM-TV (Telemundo) in McAllen, TX
Although he holds no patents as such, Who’s Who in Science & Engineering (along with other Who’s Who publications) credits Regner Capener with being an inventor. In the 1950’s, he developed what ultimately became marketed as the Stereo Guitar. In the 1960’s, while doing research and development for Lockheed Missiles (under a NASA contract), he discovered a means to convert computer code into music, and later developed a computer that would analyze musical chords being played by a musician, and play an accompanying bass note. His invention was later refined, sold outright to CBS Musical Instruments, and subsequently marketed as the Fender Bassmaster. While attending Bethany Bible College, he conducted extensive (non-academic) research into acoustic principles and reproduction. With a college classmate, Alan Parker, he later formed Intermountain Electronics Corporation in Salt Lake City in an effort to market three-dimensional sound systems. Although efforts to market the original 3-D sound were not successful, demonstrations of the system to manufacturers nation-wide led to the subsequent development and introduction of “Quad” sound, an early predecessor to today’s Dolby Surround sound. Regner also participated in the development of the wireless microphone, and pioneered techniques for digital audio recording, later putting together an engineering course authorized by the University of Alaska to teach Digital Audio Recording.
Regner and his wife of more than 25 years, the former Della Denise Melson (originally of Sunnyside, Washington), have also been active in social work, mostly in conjunction with ongoing ministry. Regner founded Operation Blessing-Alaska as an outreach of the nationally televised 700 Club, providing needy families throughout Alaska with food, housing assistance, rental and utility monies, and job-search assistance. When CBN-Alaska closed its operation, Operation Blessing-Alaska was phased over to the Fairbanks and Anchorage Food Banks, and the Salvation Army.
Regner served from 2001 to 2005 as one of many co-founders on the board of the Hidalgo County Children’s Advocacy Center, (in McAllen, Texas) and has helped to establish two chapters for the Society of Broadcast Engineers.
Political activism has been an ongoing part of his life, campaigning for friends and working behind the scenes to elect and re-elect Republicans such as Congressman Don Young in Alaska and U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Regner put together TV commercials for Ted Stevens that aired in the native villages of Alaska’s North Slope. Reflecting his personal support for individuals with conservative values and personal integrity over party labels, he has also campaigned for Democratic friends, including former Lt. Governor Red Boucher, and former Assistant Attorney General Clark Gruening.
Regner and Della Capener have composed more than two hundred Scripture songs between them, many of which are sung in churches around the world. They are both musicians. Della plays keyboards and some percussion instruments. Regner plays some 30 different instruments, but focuses primarily on the classical guitar. They have recorded and released more than a dozen worship CD’s and tapes made during spontaneous worship gatherings with other musicians and singers.
Regner has written and published numerous works throughout the years, and currently authors a weekly publication online titled ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK.
Together, Regner and Della Capener have eight children, two of whom are adopted Eskimos, and 21 grandchildren. Della has been in the jewelry business for much of the past twenty years, leaving it to minister with Regner at River Worship Center.
Their oldest daughter, Deborah, works currently for a construction company out of Seattle. Their oldest son, Christian, is a civil engineer who manages projects for a Canadian gold mine company working out of Nome, Alaska, along with the Red Dog Mine out of Kotzebue, Alaska for Alaska Interstate Construction. He has recently moved from Alaska with his wife, Chelsi, and their four children to Sunnyside, Washington, and commutes back and forth.
Melodie, who is the next oldest daughter, lives with her two sons and works in Portland, Oregon providing healthcare for elderly patients. Shelley, who is next in line, lives with her husband, Gabriel Mireles, and five children in Mabton, Washington, and is a chef for a restaurant in the Yakima Valley, and a member of Mabton's City Council. Danielle, daughter # 4, lives with her husband, Anthony Picasso, and their two sons in Anchorage, where she works as a hairdresser.
Rebekah, daughter #5, lives in Pasco, Washington with her five children. Ariella, youngest of the six girls in the family, recently moved to Florida where she is expecting to get married. Joshua, who is their second son, and youngest of the eight children, works for his brother, Chris, at the Red Dog Mine out of Kotzebue, Alaska as a welder's assistant.
