Iowa Blues Hall of Fame inductee Ron DeWitte dies at 68

Iowa Blues Hall of Fame inductee Ron DeWitte, 68, died Friday, Feb. 16 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

DeWitte and his wife, vocalist Lynne Rockroth, have been mainstays in the Eastern Iowa music scene for decades. DeWitte was a former member of Bobby’s Blue Band, Redwing, The Linn County Band, and The Legends, among others, and was a four-time inductee into the Iowa Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of Fame in 2003.

“Ron was a god before he joined the Blue Band in the mid-1980s,” frontman Bob Dorr of Cedar Falls said in a recent interview with The Cedar Rapids Gazette. “He was a god then, and he still is today …. he’s always been the star of every band he’s been in, not only his own, but he has been an inspiration to many others, to try to do what he’s doing, and persevere and be as great as they can be.”

DeWitte’s obituary can be found at http://www.thegazette.com/obituaries/ronaldalan-dewitte-20180219-0000103297-01.