Cady Oldenburg

Robert E. Oldenburg, 88, of East Moline, Illinois, a proud and decorated WW II Army Veteran, died Thursday, May 5, 2011, in his residence.

Services are 11a.m. Tuesday in the Celebration of Life Chapel at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline, with the Reverend Dr. Mark Gehrke officiating. Cremation will follow the service and private entombment will be in the Columbarium at the Rock Island National Cemetery. Visitation is 3 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Honor Flight of the Quad Cities, in which Bob and his son participated in October, 2009.

Robert Edmund Oldenburg was born April 15, 1923, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Roy E. and Paula Zinn Oldenburg. On Pearl Harbor Day, he, with his mother and dad, moved to Davenport, Iowa, on 4th Street, and he got a job at the Rock Island Arsenal.

He loved to roller skate and met his wife, Kathyrne Sneeringer at the roller rink at the Davenport Fair Grounds. He married her on March 28, 1943, in West Liberty, Iowa, and on April 15th, 1943, he was called to the U. S. Army. They placed him in the 17th Airborne Division in North Carolina. He took some of his training there and was sent to Tennessee in 1944, and was sent overseas to England and then was in active combat in the Bastogne, Rhineland and Central Europe. The 17th Airborne made a combat attack by glider and parachute into Germany by crossing the Rhine by glider. He was transferred after this mission to the 101st Airborne Division, and came home on January 1, 1945. He joined the Army Reserves and retired as Master Sergeant after serving 20 years.

Bob worked in West Liberty, Iowa, in different garages as a mechanic and also switched to a machinist at John Rohner's Machine Shop for some years. He went to Thatcher Glass in Muscatine, Iowa, and later decided to go to the Rock Island Arsenal from which he retired in 1983 after 23 years.

He lived in West Liberty, Iowa, for 22 years and in 1967, moved to Durant, Iowa, for 19 years, and moved to Mesa, Arizona, in 1985, for winters, and in summers, he lived with his wife at Town Mobile Park, Wilton, Iowa. In 1992, they moved to stay at their place at Mesa year-round. In June, 2007, the couple moved to East Moline, Illinois to be close to their family.

He was most proud of having served on the Funeral Honor Guard for President Herbert Hoover in West Branch, Iowa, twice, once at the funeral and then two years later when the permanent burial was completed.

He was a member of VFW Post #2056, East Moline, and American Legion Post #509, West Liberty. He enjoyed playing cribbage, computering, handy man for years, and reading his newspaper and talking on the phone, and liked to help people..

Bob is survived by his wife, Kathyrne "Kay" Oldenburg; a daughter and son-in-law, Peggy and Robert Zarndt of North Auroa, Illinois; a son and dauughter-in-law, Randy and Ann Oldenburg of Moline; four grandchildren and their spouses, Raquel and Tim Griffin, Traci and Daniel Marsengill, Shane Terhune, and Reece Oldenburg; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Ada Louise Krafcheck and Anita Jablonka.

Bob's family invites friends to share stories and condolences and light a candle in his memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.