Gordon Moritz Ervin Krenn

Gordon M. Krenn, a reporter and editor associated with news media in Madison and Milwaukee, before turning to public health communications, died Thursday, July 11, of complications of heart disease and advanced age. He was 92. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Krenn worked in Madison, first preparing news reports for WIBA radio and then serving as a reporter for the Capital Times newspaper. At the Capital Times, his reporting included extensive early coverage of the then growing opposition to live-animal experimentation at the University of Wisconsin's Primate Research Center. That opposition continues today. He also was part of the newspaper's team that covered the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago, which chose Gen. Dwight Eisenhower as its Presidential candidate. In the mid-'50s, Krenn joined WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, where he served for a decade on the station's news-writing staff. His work there included producing reports on Milwaukee's protest-plagued early freeway development, the emergence of civil rights protests in the city, and the assassination of President Kennedy. Krenn then went on to write and edit a series of public health medical journals. In...[more]

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e work he felt was most meaningful, he served in a series of roles related to Lutheran Church initiatives seeking an end to racial segregation in Milwaukee. Gordon Moritz Ervin Krenn, the only child of Anthony and Selma Krenn, was born April 18, 1921, and raised in Milwaukee, near Borchert Field, where he spent many summer afternoons during his youth taking in baseball games featuring the old minor-league Milwaukee Brewers. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and served as a bombardier aboard a B-17 aircraft, the Ice Cold Katie, which was part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force unit based at the RAF Thurleigh airfield near Bedford, England. Following his war service, he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism, in part motivated to do so by the then Shirley Boerner, who dragged her feet accepting his marriage proposal until he had those diplomas within his grasp. Survivors include Shirley, his wife of 66 years, along with five children and their families: Kathleen (Lawrence Hass) Krenn and their sons Christopher (Joanna) and great-grandchildren Mason and Liam, and Daniel (Courtney) and great-grandchildren Rowan and Eleanor; Gregory and his son Joar; Elizabeth (Rick) Klimas and their children Jessica (Brian), Jason (Ann), Joshua and Jodie; Michael (Linda) and their children Caitlin (Erin Daly), Samuel, Chelsea, Anna, Gabriel and Nicole; and Katherine (Rick) Caroselli and their daughter Hokulani. Additional survivors include cousins Ed Kanz and Elroy Krell, along with sisters-in-law Ann (George) Brown and Shirley Boerner, brother-in-law Donald (Pat) Boerner, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Krenn was a longtime resident of Brookfield, and later of Port Washington. Memorial services will be held at 11AM on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at Open Door Bible Church, 3420 Hwy LL in Port Washington. He will be laid to rest at Graceland Cemetery in Milwaukee. The family will receive visitors at the church on Wednesday morning from 9:30-11:00AM. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Milwaukee College Preparatory School at 2449 N. 36th St. Milwaukee, WI 53210. The Eernisse Funeral Home, Port Washington, is honored to be serving the family. Online condolences may be left at www.eernissefuneralhome.com .