Donald E. Krist

NOVELIST, PR EXECUTIVE

DEAD AT 84

Award winning public relations executive Donald E. Krist, (84) of 4781 Woodland Ave., West Des Moines, died January 13, 2011 unexpectedly of natural causes at Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines IA.

Memorial services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday January 18, 2011 at Westminster Presbyterian Church with private inurnment at Resthaven Mausoleum in West Des Moines.

Mr. Krist was born in Topeka, Kansas, and attended schools in Waterloo before moving to Des Moines in 1938.

He retired in 1988 after twenty years as executive vice president of two major Iowa trade associations in finance and insurance.

He then authored several books published by Writers Club Press and Random House and distributed worldwide by bookstores and on the Internet: Lost Chameleons and Other Tales, a volume of short stories; Kiss’d to Sleep, Chicago Cowboy, The Strange Secret of Kickapoo Crossing, Hymn to the Sun, and Conversations – all novels.

Mr. Krist was previously a newspaper reporter and editor for the Messenger News, Plain Talk, and Des Moines Tribune, and Assistant Book Editor of Better Homes and Gardens books, and public relations director for the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce and Meredith Corporation.

Mr. Krist wrote “Your Public Relations” a reference guide book for 3000 Jaycee Chapters throughout the U.S.

While a public relations executive for Meredith and the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Krist produced a full-hour show for Arthur Godfrey on the CBS Network from New York (Ten Outstanding Young Men of America interviews), and programs or segments for the NBC Tonight Show with Steve Allen, the NBC Farm and Home Hour from Chicago, NBC’s Monitor, and the NBC Queen For A Day Show from Hollywood; and two motion pictures: The Jaycee Story and Eyewitness Report on Russian Agriculture.

Mr., Krist then developed the release of a series of articles, by-lined by the two Successful Farming magazine editors who made the trip to the Soviet Union, to be distributed world-wide by Associated Press Newsfeatures from New York.

A journalism graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, he was Campus Editor of the DrakeTimes Delphic newspaper, editor of the Jester, Drake’s first humor magazine, and Treasurer of Sigma Delta Chi, professional journalism fraternity.

Mr. Krist later taught as adjunct professor of public relations at Drake for 13 years.

His articles have appeared in newspapers throughout the U.S. and in Seventeen, Sports Illustrated, Advertising Age, Woman’s Day, Scholastic Roto, Popular Science, Variety, Look, and National Underwriter magazines.

Among those Mr. Krist interviewed for newspaper or magazine articles or conducted press conferences for were William P. Rogers, U.S. Secretary of State, Carols P. Romulo, Ambassador to the U.S. from the Philippines, and the first U.N. Secretary General, Y.A. Tittle, Chuck Yeager, Douglas Edwards, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Will Rogers,jr., Art Linkletter, John Houseman, Dr. Joyce Brothers, F. Lee Bailey, George Plimpton, Maureen Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Preston Tucker (designer of the Tucker automobile), John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Arthur Godfrey, Hayden Fry, Evelyn Ay (Miss America 1954), Cornelia Otis Skinner, Marsha Hunt, and Forrest Tucker.

Mr. Krist was certified for life as an Associated Executive by the American Society of Association Executives of Washington, DC, and received numerous awards from the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents of Washington, DC, the Tulsa Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the 1752 Club of Iowa, a group of insurance company representatives. Mr. Krist also received various achievement, leadership, and magazine editorial excellence awards from several national associations and business groups.

Mr. Krist was past President of Des Moines Press Club, the Iowa Foundation for Insurance Education, past Vice President and received a Key Man Award for serving several chairmanships and producing the first successful Des Moines Products Show sponsored by the Des Moines Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was cited with an award in 1988 by Iowa Insurance Commissioner William Hager for his contributions to the Iowa insurance industry.

Mr. Krist was a member of Moingona Masonic Lodge and Za Ga Zig Shrine, where he was president of the public relations unit

He was active in the Governmental Affairs and Congressional Action Committees of the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Krist was honored in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in Commerce and Industry, and Who’s Who in Public Relations.

Mr. Krist was a U.S. Navy Veteran of World War II.

He is survived by a son, Jamie (Lisa) of West Des Moines, a daughter, Lisa Ann Krist of White Plains, New York, and three grandsons, Alexander James, Michael Austin, and Tanner David. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Marilyn, in 2005, and his brother Robert, in 2006.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at McLaren's Chapel in West Des Moines.