John Edward Kofron, 91, died Wednesday January 20, 2010 at the Iowa City Rehab Center. Graveside service will be held 1 P.M. Sunday at the West Branch Cemetery. Visitation will be held Saturday from 6 to 8 P.M. at the Henderson-Barker Funeral Home in West Branch. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Chauncey Butler American Legion Post 514, of West Branch Mr. Kofron was born September 8, 1918, at Oakdale, Illinois, 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 December 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 loudspeaker, and his orders home were immediately cancelled. On July 8, 1942, he married Pauline Pedersen, in San Diego, where he was stationed at Ft. Rosecrans, prior to shipping out. During the war, he served the Army with the Coast Artillery Corp, in the Society Island region. He returned home in December 1945, following the end of WWII. 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. Prior to 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, Oregon; 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, Missouri, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, and five brothers and three sisters.