Funeral services for Don E. Magdefrau, 75, Belle Plaine, are 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at First Lutheran Church, Belle Plaine, with the Rev. Dean Duncan officiating. Visitation is 4 to 7 p.m. at First Lutheran Church. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery. Magdefrau died Friday, March 2, 2012, at St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids, from complications of a massive stroke. Don Edward Magdefrau was born Aug. 25, 1936, in Oelwein to Willis and Anna (Miller) Magdefrau. The family moved to Belle Plaine in the 1940s when Willis accepted a job with Funks G Hybrid. He graduated from Belle Plaine High School in 1954 and attended the University of Iowa, participating in the Hawkeye Marching Band. On Dec. 2, 1956, Don married Frances Backes in Keystone. He is survived by his wife, Frances; son, Jim, of Van Horne; daughter, Joni (Rod) Muench of Omaha, NE; and daughter, Julie (Gary) Thompson, Van Horne; six grandchildren: Allison (Tripp) Stroud, Andrew Muench (fiancée Sally Cordt), Austin Muench (fiancée Leah Alexander), Wesley Thompson, Emily (Justin) Salier, and Reese Thompson. He is also survived by two sisters, Jane (Gerald) Ketterling, and Janet (Del) Axtell; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Melvin Lehrman, Alice (Edgar) Heitshusen, Luella Scott, Velma (Ivan) Butt, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter, Jan, in 2009; brothers-in-law Franklin Backes and John D. Scott; and sister-in-law Martha Lehrman. Magdefrau had a 55-year newspaper career, starting by sweeping floors at Burrows Publishing, Belle Plaine. He went into partnership and purchased the Belle Plaine Union and Benton County Star. The latter newspaper combined with the Blairstown Press to form the Star-Press. He retired in 2007. Locally, he belonged to and held offices in the Belle Plaine Rotary Club, Belle Plaine Improvement Co., First Lutheran Church, Belle Plaine Area Ambulance Service, Belle Plaine Development Commission, Chamber of Commerce, and July Fourth Committee. He served as Benton Countys citizen representative on the East Central Iowa Council of Governments Board, and served on Benton Countys Jail Study Committee. Memorials preferred by the family are the Belle Plaine Area Ambulance, First Lutheran Church, and the Iowa Newspaper Foundation. Hrabak Funeral Home, Belle Plaine, is in charge of arrangements.