Basic Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Mollee Roestel |
| Date of Birth | January 31, 1957 |
| Age | 68 (as of 2025) |
| Place of Birth | Washington, USA |
| Parents | Lorel Wayne Roestel (father), Beverly Watkins (mother) |
| Religion | Jehovah’s Witness |
| Occupation | Accountant |
| Spouse | Marty Raney |
| Year Married | 1974 |
| Children | Melanee, Misty, Matt, Miles |
| Primary Residence | Alaska (off-grid homestead; long-time base in Haines) |
| Known For | Partnering in a multigenerational homesteading life; matriarch to a family featured on Homestead Rescue |
Early Life and Beliefs
Born on January 31, 1957, in Washington, Mollee Roestel grew up in a household that emphasized faith, discipline, and community. Raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, she carried those values into adulthood, sharpening a sense of purpose that would serve her well far from paved roads and bright city lights.
Her early years never hinted at the frontier life she would pursue, yet they furnished the tools: resourcefulness, frugality, and a focus on family. Those habits later became the invisible scaffolding of a homestead that had to function smoothly, season by season, without the safety net of modern convenience.
Marriage and a Move North
In 1974, Mollee married Marty Raney, setting in motion a partnership that would be tested by weather, wildlife, and wilderness. By the late 1970s, the couple had moved to Alaska and embraced an off-grid existence in and around Haines. Homes were not bought; they were built. Heat came from wood. Food security depended on careful planning and old-fashioned work.
For Mollee, the homestead became both home and headquarters. As an accountant, she brought order to the unpredictability of frontier finances, balancing the books of a life guided by seasons rather than timetables. The ledger included more than dollars: it tracked sacks of seed, cords of wood, barrels of fuel, and the precious hours of long summer light.
Raising a Homesteading Family
By the time the first snow fell each winter, the Raney home had already seen months of preparation—gardens planted and harvested, tools sharpened, plans settled. Within this cadence, Mollee raised four children who each carved distinct paths while staying rooted in the same rugged ethic.
- Misty Raney Bilodeau (born 1982) grew into a carpenter, farmer, and homesteader. With a talent for problem-solving and a hands-on approach, she helps families reinforce structures and food systems under pressure.
- Melanee Raney (born October 16, 1976) forged a career as a certified ski guide and rafting business owner in Anchorage. She has appeared on the family’s TV projects and brings a mountain-strong perspective to adventure, safety, and leadership.
- Matt Raney emerged as a builder and homesteader, often shoulder to shoulder with his father and sister, translating blueprints and brainstorms into working, weatherproof solutions for remote living.
- Miles Raney—born in Sitka—pursued music, songwriting, and mountain climbing, channeling the family’s adventurous streak into art, travel, and alpine pursuits.
Family at a Glance
| Name | Birthdate | Primary Focus | Notable Involvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanee | Oct 16, 1976 | Ski guide; rafting business | Appearances on family TV projects |
| Misty | 1982 | Carpentry; farming; homesteading | Co-star on Homestead Rescue |
| Matt | — | Building; homesteading | Co-star on Homestead Rescue |
| Miles | — (born in Sitka, AK) | Music; mountaineering | Appearances on Homestead Rescue |
Each child is a reflection of the same core training: respect the environment, rely on your wits, and make what you need with your own hands. Behind the scenes, Mollee’s steady presence acts as the metronome—keeping rhythm when logistics get tangled or weather turns fast.
Work, Television, and Finances
The Raney family’s skillset took center stage with the launch of Homestead Rescue in 2016, a series that tracks the high-stakes work of helping struggling off-grid families stabilize their homes, structures, water, and food systems. While Marty often fronts the camera, the series galvanized attention around a lifestyle the Raneys have practiced for decades. Offshoots and special projects extended that visibility, inviting viewers into the real math of frontier living: the hours, the miles, the board feet, the calories.
Mollee typically avoids the spotlight, a private counterweight to public recognition. She remains a foundational force, the person charting seasonal budgets and household priorities while her family drives the visible builds. The family’s combined efforts in television and homesteading ventures have pegged their net worth at over $1 million, an accumulation that mirrors years of labor converted into lumber, roofs, greenhouses, and careful savings.
The Architecture of an Off-Grid Life
An off-grid homestead is a mosaic of systems—each one must work or everything falters. Water capture and storage, heat, food preservation, power, waste, weatherproofing: all require constant vigilance. Winters can lock a family in ice; summers demand relentless effort to capitalize on long days and short seasons. It is a life of margins—of counting jars on a shelf and diesel in a tank, of reading clouds and creek levels almost as fluently as a ledger.
Mollee’s accounting background dovetails with this reality. Budgets don’t lie, and neither do broken pipes or downed trees. She thinks in inputs and outputs: How many pounds of potatoes? How much protein in the pantry? How many nails left in the box? But she also thinks in people: What do the kids need? Who can do what next? Where is the effort best spent before the first snow?
Influence Without Spotlight
Some lives are lived like a campfire: warm, effective, and seen by anyone who stops by. Others are like a well-tended root cellar—quiet, essential, and rarely photographed. Mollee leans toward the latter. Her influence surfaces in family cohesion, strategic choices, and the consistent ability to “make do,” a phrase that in Alaska translates to skill, grit, and foresight.
Even as her husband and children appear on television, Mollee preserves the family’s center of gravity. She steers routines and priorities away from spectacle and toward sustainability. The result is a rare blend of media visibility and homestead authenticity, a balance achieved not by chance but by design.
Timeline
- 1957: Mollee Roestel is born in Washington.
- 1974: Marries Marty Raney.
- Late 1970s: The couple moves to Alaska to build an off-grid life, with Haines as a long-time base.
- 1976: Daughter Melanee is born (October 16).
- 1982: Daughter Misty is born.
- 2016–present: Homestead Rescue showcases the family’s know-how helping off-grid households.
- 2025: Mollee remains the guiding hand of a homesteading family that spans multiple disciplines and generations.
FAQ
Who is Mollee Roestel?
She is the wife of homesteader and TV figure Marty Raney and the matriarch of a multigenerational Alaskan homestead family.
How old is Mollee Roestel?
She is 68 years old as of 2025.
Where was she born?
She was born in Washington, USA.
What does she do professionally?
She works as an accountant and applies that skill to managing the complexities of off-grid living.
What is her religious background?
She was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and continues to hold that belief.
When did she marry Marty Raney?
They married in 1974.
How many children do Mollee and Marty have?
They have four children: Melanee, Misty, Matt, and Miles.
Are the Raney children on television?
Yes, several of their children, notably Misty and Matt, appear on Homestead Rescue.
Where does the family live?
The family’s homesteading base has long been in Alaska, including years off the grid in the Haines area.
What is the Raney family’s estimated net worth?
Their combined net worth is estimated to be over $1 million, largely from television work and homesteading ventures.
