Robert George Krug (Bob)

November 30, 1932 - September 30, 2018

Bob Krug passed away peacefully at his home in Richland, Wash. surrounded by his loving family on Sunday, Sept. 30 after 85 years filled with hard work, service, faith, love and gratitude.

Born in Ritzville, Wash. to parents Raymond and Betty Krug, Bob lived his entire life in Eastern Washington. He attended grades 1-12 in Connell, Wash., and upon graduating he attended Pacific Lutheran College for one year where he met his wife of more than 66 years, Jean.

Though a lifelong student, Bob’s college education was interrupted by the Korean War. He enlisted in the Air Force, where he served his country for four years and achieved a rank of staff sergeant as a K Systems Technician – the electronics that operated the first radar-controlled weapons. During his time in the Air Force, he and Jean welcomed their first children, Nicolette and Carolyn.

After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, Bob returned home to Connell to run the family farm. During these years, he and Jean welcomed three sons: Richard, Ronald and Randal.

In the early years of his farming career, Bob leveled land and drove truck to make ends meet. His hard work and diligence spawned a career in farming that lasted 60 years, 27 in which he proudly farmed with his sons. Even in retirement, you still couldn’t keep Bob away from the farm.

Bob’s favorite crop to grow was potatoes. As a pioneer in the potato industry, he helped shepherd its growth from infancy to what it has become today: the leading vegetable crop in the United States, with more than half of the annual supply produced in Washington and Idaho, right in his backyard.

Beyond Bob’s own farming enterprise, he was involved in numerous organizations in the farming community, including the Jaycees and the Farm Bureau and marketing organizations. Later in his career, he served eight years on the Farm Credit Board. Service was simply part of who he was.

To Bob, farming and faith were very much intertwined – something his family and friends knew well. The message on a simple needlepoint that graced a wall in every house he and Jean ever lived captured it well: “He who plants a seed beneath the sod and sees it grow believes in God.” Bob was very involved in his church throughout his life, serving on various boards in many different capacities at Gideon Lutheran Church in Connell and Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Othello.

Bob had many different hobbies, and his favorite was flying (which generated many stories). He also loved to fish and read stories of adventures in the outdoors, and he was a big-time Mariners fan. But Bob’s favorite way to spend his time was with his family. He loved celebrating the many blessings in his life, from carol-filled Christmas Eve dinners to summer parties with homemade ice cream to impromptu glasses of wine on the patio with his children and their children. Bob worked hard, played hard and had a great sense of integrity, perspective and humor. His wisdom, his love and his laughter will be missed by so many.

Bob is survived by his wife, Jean Krug; daughters Nicolette Johnson (Robert) and Carolyn Henager (Stephen); son Ronald Krug (Gretchen); daughter-in-law Maryann Krug; sisters Marilyn Warsinski, Janée Theleman and Carol Alldredge (Richard) and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Bob is predeceased by parents Raymond and Betty Krug, sons Richard and Randal Krug and grandson Randal C. Krug.

Services will be held at Gideon Lutheran Church in Connell, Wash. on Oct. 13, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kadlec Foundation, 888 Swift Blvd., Richland, WA 99352.