Former long-time Wartburg College news and sports information director Duane Schroeder died Wednesday, Aug. 18, of natural causes while traveling in Romania, according to family members.
Schroeder, 68, was an employee at Wartburg College as news and sports information director for more than 42 years. He stepped down from his dual role in the spring of 2000, ending the second longest tenure in College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) history.
“Few individuals have had the opportunity to impact an institution as much as Duane Schroeder has impacted Wartburg College,” said Dr. Jack R. Ohle, Wartburg president. “His service in athletics and to the college as a whole is unequaled; he set an example for all of us. Duane gave of himself wholeheartedly, working tirelessly for the college and its students.”
“Duane’s contributions and efforts on behalf of the athletic department at Wartburg will be felt far into the future,” said Gary Grace, Wartburg athletic director. “On a personal level, I valued the friendship I had with Duane and will miss him.”
After receiving a call from Warren Berg of Luther College, Schroeder joined CoSIDA in 1959 and attended the first 10 conventions at the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago. The association honored him with the Warren Berg Award, its highest honor, in 1998.
In addition, Schroeder also played a key role in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) for a significant part of his career, serving as secretary-treasurer from 1981 to 2001.
“Duane Schroeder has had an immeasurable and lasting impact on the development of the Iowa Conference,” said John T. Cochrane, IIAC commissioner. “Two years ago, the conference instituted the Duane Schroeder Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, the highest honor that we bestow on a student-athlete, in recognition of his almost 50 years of unselfish service and commitment to the mission of the Iowa Conference. I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to know Duane; he was a consummate professional, gentleman and friend. Duane’s presence will be missed by everyone in our conference family whose lives he touched.”
Schroeder was part of nearly 400 football games and more than 1,500 basketball and baseball games in his career. As a student, he served as a student sportswriter, managing editor, sports editor and business manager for the Wartburg Trumpet from 1954-58 and was a part-time statistician in the Wartburg public relations office as well. Former public relations director Norm Fintel offered Schroeder a full-time job the day after he graduated from Wartburg in 1958.
Funeral arrangements are pending at Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home of Waverly. Schroeder is survived by his wife, Mary Ellen, his son, Randall (Lenore) and two grandsons, Lukas and Nikolaus, all of Waverly.