65428_Vic “Spike”_Koenigsberg
Mason City — Vic ‘Spike’ Koenigsberg, 70, of Mason City, died Tuesday, January 8, 2013, at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa following an accident on December 17, 2012, when he was struck in a car in a crosswalk.
A memorial service will be held in August. Interment will be at Hillside Cemetery, Sheffield.
Victor Vaughn Koenigsberg was born November 19, 1942, in Ypsilanti, Mich., the first child of Orville Rolly and Veloye (Froning) Koenigsberg. At the age of two he moved to Beeds Lake with his parents and little sister. When he was 9 he moved to Val Kay Court in Hampton where his lifelong love of trains started at the Chicago Great Western Railroad. Being an inquisitive traveler, he often accompanied his parents on trips. One adventure he enjoyed was prospecting for uranium in Wyoming at age 11. In 1956, he moved to San Diego, Calif., area with his parents and two sisters. He graduated from El Capitan High School in Lakeside, Calif., in 1960, then he attended San Diego State University from 1960 to 1965, majoring in accounting. He then spent a year traveling the United States photographing, writing and self-publishing the “U.S. Steam Locomotive Directory,” a book documenting the last remaining steam locomotives in service in the United States.
In 1967 he settled in Sheffield, Iowa, and began his career working on a major railroad. In 1971 he worked for the Mason City & Clear Lake Railroad (MC&CL) and in 1987 he became one of four shareholders in the newly formed Iowa Traction Railroad Company, formerly MC&CL, the oldest continuously operating electric railroad in the U.S., where he worked until his retirement in 1995. He maintained the eight miles of track, overhead wires and was an engineer.
He enjoyed reading, listening to talk radio, was an avid collector of vintage railroad books and magazines. He enjoyed walking up to 10 miles a day to keep physically fit while collecting bottles and cans and worked tirelessly trying to solve the mystery of a local news anchor’s abduction from their apartment complex in Mason City in 1995.
He was in the process of moving to Merlin, Ore., to be close to his eldest sister at the time of his death.
He is survived by two sisters: Terri (Clark) George, Merlin; Diane (Robert) Krogh, San Marcos, Calif.; one nephew: Andy Krogh, Warner Springs, Calif.; three nieces: Traci Priebs, Redding, Calif.; Amber Krogh and Carrie Krogh of Warner Springs, Calif.; two aunts: Joyce Brouwer, Sheffield and Laura Froning, Albert Lea, Minn., and several cousins including Sandee Brouwer of Hampton, Iowa.
He is preceded in death by his grandparents: Earl and Amber Froning and Reinold (R.B.) and Carrie Koenigsberg; his parents and nephew: Michael Ketron.
www.retzfh.com.
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