Charles Robert Kremenak Jr.
Charles Robert Kremenak Jr.
Iowa City
Charles Robert Kremenak Jr. (“Bob”) died Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City from complications following a fall. He was 91 years old.
Bob is survived by his wife of 68 years, Nellie; daughters, Sarah Meyers, Erica Kremenak and Martha Kremenak Mthembu; son. Charles V. Kremenak; daughter-in-law, Idil Bereket; nephew, Jesse Kremenak; grandchildren, Alexander Kawashima, Thea and Emanuel Sadler and Sonja Johnson; six great-grandchildren; and his godson, Charles K. Huyck. He was preceded in death by his parents, Viola (Shirk) and C.R. Kremenak Sr.; his brother, Benjamin Kremenak; and his son-in-law, Aggrey Mthembu.
Bob graduated from high school in Newell, Iowa. He attended Doane College in Crete, Neb., and the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, graduating in 1954. He served three years in the U.S. Navy, primarily as dental officer aboard the icebreaker USS Atka, traveling to the Arctic and Antarctic.
Following his discharge from the Navy, Bob joined the faculties of the University of Iowa Colleges of Dentistry and Medicine. He retired from the department of Orthodontics and the department of Otolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1994, after a career focused on research into the effects on facial growth of maxillofacial surgery associated with cleft palate repair.
After retirement, Bob and his wife moved to Oaknoll Retirement Center, where he worked on a memoir of his life experiences. He was a devoted husband and family man, and took great pleasure in all his family relationships. He loved music and played the clarinet, and also greatly enjoyed caring for and studying plants.
A gathering of family and friends to share remembrances will take place later this year, at a date still to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be sent to The Oaknoll Foundation, 1 Oaknoll Court, Iowa City, IA 52246.
