Kofron, John Edward

John Edward Kofron, 91, died Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, at the Iowa City Rehab Center. Graveside services will be 1 p.m. Sunday at the West Branch Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Henderson-Barker Funeral Home in West Branch.

Mr. Kofron was born Sept. 8, 1918, at Oakdale, Ill., the son of Frank and Rose (Walta) Kofron. He attended West Branch Schools and as a young man roomed at the Hoover Hotel while working for Dewey Edwards Well Drilling. He also worked on the railroad in South Dakota, and for his older brother, George, raising cattle.

In December 1940, he enlisted in the Army for one year as the first person from Cedar County. On Dec. 7, 1941, while attending a football game, waiting for his orders to be sent home, the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor came over the loud speaker, and his orders home were immediately canceled. On July 8, 1942, he married Pauline Pedersen in San Diego, Calif., where he was stationed at Fort Rosecrans before shipping out.   During the war, he served the Army with the Coast Artillery Corps in the Society Island region. He returned home in December 1945, following the end of World War II.

John and Pauline then began their married life, farming on the south edge of West Branch on the former Holloway farm, which exists today as part of the Herbert Hoover National Park. Before retirement, he also worked for Wayne Paulsen Construction and Leonard Slach Construction.

John enjoyed his John Deere tractors, tinkering with anything mechanical, and tending to his vegetable garden. He once stated that he would have liked to have been a mechanical engineer. He had a special fondness for ducks and geese since childhood and had several as pets. 

Survivors include a daughter, Linda Alexander and husband Mark of West Branch; a son, Gary Kofron and wife Annie of Iowa City; three granddaughters, Laura Wilkerson and husband Daina of New Braunfels, Texas, Christine Kofron of Cornelius, Ore., and Nicole Owens and husband Chris of Cedar Rapids; two great-granddaughters, Sheridan and Karsen Wilkerson of New Braunfels, Texas; a brother, Charles Kofron of Tipton, and a sister, Dorothy Richards of Kansas City, Mo., as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, five brothers and three sisters.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hendersonbarker

funeralhome.com

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Chauncey Butler American Legion Post 514 of West Branch.