Duane S. Prorok

Duane S Prorok, age 87, was born November 8, 1938 at home on a farm north of Monroe, NE to Sylvester and Clara (Jazwiec) Prorok. They lived on several farms (wherever his folks could find farm work). At the age of 4, Duane rode his pony “Pete” horseback (they couldn’t afford a saddle) with a neighbor to a one room schoolhouse about 1½ miles away. From there he graduated 8th grade. As a Junior, the family moved to a cattle ranch near Genoa, NE. In summers Duane worked whatever farm jobs he could find and played football during the school year, (a 135lb right guard). It was at Genoa High School that he literally ran into Zita in the hall on her first day there. Duane graduated at the age of 16. Being too young to get a factory job, Duane left home and “hitched a ride” to Omaha with cattle buyers and got an office job, while each weekend “hitching a ride” to Genoa to see Zita, his sweetheart. Next it was off to Columbus looking for a job. Irrigation Pump Company didn’t bother to ask how old he was, so they put him to work. Duane and Zita were married on January 4, 1958. At 18 he went to work for Behlen Mfg. as an Assembly Operator. After two years of machining experience, he was promoted to Tool and Die Machinist and started night school studying basic engineering. He was promoted to Engineering Drafting and then Machine Design. In 1966, with Zita 8 months pregnant and five children, Duane accepted a Machine Design Engineer job at Valley Mfg. Co in Valley, now Valmont. After studying nights and weekends he passed his Nebraska Professional Engineer Exam and was then promoted to Manager of the Manufacturing Irrigation Division. He was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the Tubing Division. Duane worked as the Project Engineer for Coatings, designing and coordinating galvanizing facilities throughout the world. In 2013, after nearly 46 years at Valmont, he retired. Duane always said he married his “high school sweetheart”. They loved their family dearly and set a great example of marriage and family life. The couple enjoyed playing tennis and traveling. After 46 years of marriage Zita died of Multiple Myeloma. Duane was happy to meet and share the last 15 years with his companion, Sharon McDonald. Duane was preceded in death by his parents, Sylvester and Clara; brother, Melvin (Dee) Prorok and in-laws, Jacob and Mary Kuntz; son, Philip Prorok and daughter, Christine (Mark) Jensen. He will be greatly missed by his family including son, Gregory (Linda) Prorok and their daughters Jalayne (Samantha) Prodel, and Kara Prorok; son-in-law, Mark Jensen and children Bradley (Tiffany) Jensen, Brenton (Jenn) Jensen, and Ashley (Andrew) Kokke; daughter, Vicki (Douglas) Heeren and their daughters Sr. Mary Consolation of the Afflicted SSVM, and Jessica (Jeff) Brady; son, Ronald (Melissa) Prorok and their children Alexander (Francis) Prorok, Sydney (Austin) Fish, and Samuel Prorok; and son, Patrick Prorok; along with eleven great grandchildren. A visitation will be held from 9:30 - 10:30 AM on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 307 E. Meigs St. Valley, NE 68064 with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10:30 AM. Interment at Pleasant View Cemetery in Leshara, NE.

Duane S. Prorok

November 8, 1938 - November 23, 2025