Duane Koenig, a member of the Class of 1953 and longtime doctor, received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Wartburg College on Sunday, May 28, during the college’s Commencement.

Koenig, of Beatrice, Nebraska, served with the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956, retiring as a Staff Sergeant. He went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a doctorate from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha.

His medical career in family medicine and general surgery spanned more than 30 years in Beatrice. Since 2009, Koenig has served as a volunteer physician/surgeon at the Foundation for African Medicine and Education Medical Outpatient Clinic in Karatu, Tanzania. During his 10 years of service, cut short by the pandemic, he spent up to six months annually in Tanzania, where he treated patients and mentored the clinic’s full-time Tanzanian doctors.

The family’s generosity also helped with the construction of the hospital’s first five volunteer bungalows, named Koenig House in their honor.

Despite spending only two years at Wartburg, Koenig left a legacy in the music department. A saxophone player, he is credited with initiating Knightliters, the college’s jazz band. He also established the Dr. Duane G. & Violet I. Koenig Endowed Fund for Jazz/Swing and funds the Dr. Duane G. & Vi Koenig Endowed Scholarship. Koenig and his wife, Vi, are members of the President’s Round Table and the Heritage Society.