Duane Krob

Duane Joseph Krob, 80, of Shueyville, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, at the Bird House – Hospice Home of Johnson County after a 2-1/2 year long battle with cancer. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, at St. Mary Catholic Church of Solon. Funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Solon, with Fr. Charles Fladung presiding. Burial will be at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery in rural Solon. Brosh Chapel and The Avacentre in Solon are in charge of arrangements.

Duane was born Dec. 8, 1941, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Joseph and Evelyn (Achenbach) Krob. Extended family became a very important part of Duane’s early life when, at the age of three, he lost his mother to pneumonia. On Feb. 24, 1962, Duane was united in marriage to Margaret “Mydge” Hewitt, at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in East Moline, Illinois. Kids came along quickly and delayed Duane’s college degree as he worked to support their growing family. It was a frequent cycle of a semester of school followed by a semester (or two) of work and colleges attended often had to fit around Duane’s employment.

After graduation, he began his career as a maintenance engineer with Monsanto in Muscatine, Iowa and over the next three years, gained valuable experience that stayed with him for the rest of his life. In 1970, he began his lifelong career path in the foundry industry as the Engineering Manager at Frank Foundries in Davenport, Iowa where he remained until 1974, when he moved the family to Charles City, Iowa to accept the position of Foundry Engineering Manager at White Farm Equipment.

Duane always aspired to owning his own business, and in 1979, ventured out on his own by purchasing an existing sales rep company, thus moving from ‘behind the desk’ to ‘calling on the customer’. With his engineering background in foundries, he quickly changed the direction of the company to include custom design and manufacturing of custom machinery for the foundry industry, thus giving life to Foundry Equipment Company. This business grew to include the entire family over the years, along with many valued employees that contributed to the company’s success.

In 2016, Duane semi-retired and began to spend more time in his shop, only working on special projects at the office. By 2018, Duane was ‘fully’ retired, having spent 48 years in the foundry industry. He always said that it was the people he would miss the most and that the foundry industry truly is a small world. Duane and Mydge could often be found during the winter months in their motorhome in Texas, enjoying the warm weather. When not wintering down south, Duane could be found in his shop working on his cars. He was finally able to complete a full restoration of his 1962 Corvette and was in the process of restoring a 1970 Cadillac Coupe deVille that he had purchased many years ago from his brother-in-law Dick.

Those of us left to share Duane’s memories are his wife of 60 years Mydge; his children, Joe (Becky) of Solon, Terry of Coralville, Kendall of Swisher and Melissa Krob (Dan Grimm) of Solon; grandchildren, Stephanie (Sam) Early and Nick (Stephanie) Krob of Des Moines, Kolton (Mallorie) Krob of Swisher, and Jaley, Jamison and Jake Grimm of Solon; great-grandchildren, Louise, Isaac, Norma and one-on-the-way; his brother Kevin (Sherri) Krob of Solon and sister Michelle Lenz (Donny Miller) of Solon; as well as several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his stepmother Betty (Brown) Krob, and a brother Mike Krob.

Memorials may be directed to St. Mary Catholic Church of Solon or Optimist International Foundation.

The family would like to thank the Bird House and Hospice of Iowa City for their kindness and compassion throughout his journey.

Full obituary may be found at www.broshchapel.com.