Donald Kroeger

Donald E. Kroeger, 70, of Valley died Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at his home west of Valley.

He was born Sept. 26, 1932. He grew up in Bennington where he attended grade school and graduated from Bennington High School in 1949. He married Barbara Dau on June 7, 1952, in Bennington. They raised their family in Omaha, Bennington, Elkhorn and Valley. He served with the U.S. Army 24th Infantry Division from 1953-55. His service included 17 months in Korea, during which he received numerous decorations. Upon his return home from the service, he worked as a homebuilder in the late 1950s and early '60s. From 1960-73, he organized and managed drag racing. He started Kroeger Precast in 1970, an architectural precast concrete company. He received many national awards for manufacturing excellence. He became involved with thoroughbred horses in the 1990s and received national awards for breeding and racing. He placed first in 1991 with a mare "Falls Amiss" and again in 1995 with "Dazzling Falls." Dazzling Falls is the all-time leading money winner for a Nebraska bred horse with earnings of more than $900,000, had seven stakes race victories, ran in the Kentucky Derby and was rated in the Top 10 3-year-olds in the country. He retired from Architectural Precast in 1992.

Survivors include: his wife; four daughters, Paula (Mrs. Ken) Novak of Elkhorn, Pam (Mrs. Randy) Sutton of Lincoln, Jonna Kroeger of Omaha and Janelle (Mrs. John) Arehart of Elkhorn; 18 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

He was preceded in death by two brothers and two sisters.

The memorial service will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Bethany Lutheran Church in Elkhorn with the Rev. Mark Fry officiating. Visitation will be noon to 8 p.m. Friday at Reichmuth Funeral Home in Elkhorn with the family receiving friends from 6-8 p.m. Private burial will be in Prospect Hill Cemetery.