Ro Foege

Who is Ro Foege?

Romaine Henry "Ro" Foege was the Iowa State Representative from the 29th District, representing portions of Linn & Johnson Counties. He was in the Iowa House of Representatives 1996 to 2008. Foege was Director, Iowa Department on Aging 2010-2011.

He was born in George, Lyon County, Iowa. He is the fourth of seven children born to Henry Foege, a Lutheran minister, and Frieda Foege. He was the first of his siblings to be born in the United States as his parents had recently returned from doing mission work for the American Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea. His family moved from George to Decorah, Iowa and then to Montgomery, Alabama before moving to Dows, Wright County, Iowa in 1942 where his father was the Pastor of Vernon Lutheran Church. The family moved to Pocahontas, Iowa in 1946 and he graduated from Pocahontas High School in 1956.

At the age of 4, Romaine went to live with the John H & Ellie Janssen family of Gilmore City, Iowa due to the illness of his mother. This 6 month stay developed into a lifelong relationship with the Janssen family as he returned to live with the Janssen family every summer until his 17th birthday.

He received his BA in Social Work from Wartburg College in 1960 and his MSW from the University of Iowa in 1963. He also studied Individual Psychology at Bowie State University and received a Certificate in Psychotherapy from the Alfred Adler Institute of Minnesota.