Duane Arold Jefferson Kiihne, 81, of Cypress, Texas, passed away September 7th, 2023. Duane was born June 22, 1942, in Concord, California to the late Frederick Kiihne and Emmalene (Bloch) Kiihne.

Duane is survived by his loving wife, Diana Kiihne; sons, Eric (Jessica) Kiihne, Gregg (Chris) Kiihne, Joshua (Sarah) Kiihne, and grandchildren Matthew, Elizabeth, Sarah, Miriam, Anna Grace, Isaac, Caleb, and Evan.  He was affectionately known as ZimPapa to his grandchildren.

Despite being dyslexic, Duane earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from San Jose State University. He put this degree to great use working for IBM for 30 years in facility management and wastewater treatment. In the early years of this job, he built their family home on a 4 acre farmette in Gilroy, California. The Kiihnes left this little piece of paradise for Austin, Texas in 1980. While in Austin, they were active members at St. Paul Lutheran Church where Duane served as head elder and was heavily involved with youth and college bible studies.

Upon retiring from IBM in 1993, Duane answered God's call to the mission field with Bible Study Fellowship. Duane and Diana moved to Zimbabwe to start Bible study classes, where they served from 1995 until 2001. During this time, they built an ostrich farm with three houses and outbuildings from the ground up. They ran this fruitful farm in beautiful Beatrice, Zimbabwe with their team of three couples.

Returning from Zimbabwe to care for his aging in-laws, Duane and Diana settled in Carlsbad, California, where they were members of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Duane worked for Johnson & Johnson as a facility engineer, where he was the technical lead for an award winning cogeneration project providing clean power and air conditioning to the facility's labs.

God called them back into the mission field, so Duane and Diana went to Nigeria to start Bible Study Fellowship classes from 2005 to 2009. They lived and started classes in Abuja. He also volunteered his time building churches in rural areas.

When they returned to the United States, Duane and Diana settled in Greenville, South Carolina, where they were active members at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd and hosted their grandchildren for "Zim Camp" each summer. Duane worked at the Greenville Hospital System as a facility engineer and his team developed and installed the power generation, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems for the new teaching hospital.

Once they both fully retired, Duane and Diana moved to Cypress, Texas to be closer to their two oldest sons and their families in 2019. They became members at Zion Lutheran Church and received God's good gifts each week.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 12th, 2023 at 10:00 am at Zion Lutheran Church, 907 Hicks Street, Tomball, Texas 77375, with Rev. Hull officiating. Visitation is from 9:30-10:00 am.  Interment will be in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery, and there will be a luncheon at the church following graveside services.

Serving as pallbearers are Eric Kiihne, Gregg Kiihne, Joshua Kiihne, Mark Breedlove.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Zion Lutheran Church of Tomball, Texas.