Donald Krebs

Donald J. "Don" Krebs, age 91 of Albany, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Friday, October 14, 2016 at the CentraCare Health Nursing Home in Melrose, Minnesota.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11a.m. Saturday, October 22 at Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany with Rev. Cletus Connors, O.S.B. officiating and Rev. Ken Thielman concelebrating. Entombment will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, October 21 and from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Seven Dolors Gathering Area in Albany. Parish prayers will be held at 5 p.m. Friday evening at the gathering area.

Donald Joseph Krebs was born in Albany, Minnesota on July 4, 1925, the third of ten children for Benno and Anna (Solinger) Krebs. Don attended Albany public schools and graduated from Albany High School.

Don married Barbara Ziemba, the love of his life, on August 7, 1948, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Opole, Minnesota. He worked for Franklin Manufacturing for seven years (1948-1955), but was always interested in farming. He was able to purchase a farm from his uncle in 1955 and farmed and raised a family on the Krebs family farm until 2014. This was a dairy farm, with up to 36 dairy cattle, pigs and chickens, and the family grew hay, oats, corn, alfalfa and straw. Don was always interested in the details of agriculture, listening to farm radio stations and reading journals to follow weather conditions and market pricing and keeping up on new farming techniques.

However, while farming was Don's career, his first passion was his family. He was fiercely devoted to Barb, their nine children, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren, enjoying frequent visits and family gatherings on the farm.

Don was a long-standing member of the St. Joseph Society at Seven Dolors Church in Albany. He enjoyed watching sports and spending time on the farm property - walking and working the land, tending the animals, and sitting on the glider swing with Barb, watching the barn swallows.

Don is survived by his wife, Barbara; children, Bonnie (Ken) Wright of Maple Grove, Jeannie (Paul) Danielson of Colorado Springs, CO, Loren (Sandy) Krebs of Sonoita, AZ, Tom (Lori) Krebs of Melrose, Terry (Judy) Krebs of Albany, Twila (Rick) Bourgon of Bloomington, Tammie (Tim) Sharp of Detroit Lakes, Deb (Mike) Peters of Avon, and Troy (Kelly) Krebs of Albany; siblings, Eileen Schiemann, Beatrice Hockert, Bernice Wiehoff, Howard Krebs, Delphine Carey and Rita Schneider; 15 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Kenny Krebs; sisters, Doreen Tamm-Gerads and Hazel Habiger; and daughter, Maureen.

Serving as urn bearer will be all of Don's children. Cross bearer will be Justin Krebs and scripture bearer will be Derek Peters. Gift bearers will be Brandyn Krebs, Marlie Krebs, and Nathan Krebs and lectors will be Stefanie Rothstein and Ryan Wright. Reading the petitions will be Kristin Schlangen and Alyssa Brunell and a eulogy will be read by Rick Bourgon.