Biography

Kathryn Kropp Triplett was born in 1920 to Albert and Jessie Hepperle in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She graduated from high school in 1937 in Rockwell City, Iowa and was the only girl in her class to go on and get a degree from a four-year institution. Hepperle attended the State University of Iowa, now referred to as the University of Iowa, where she majored in Physical Education. Her class for the Physical Education program consisted of 150 men and 13 women. Hepperle graduated from the University of Iowa in 1941. Following her graduation, Hepperle began working as a Physical Education teacher for the Storm Lake school system in Storm Lake, Iowa. Hepperle married Victor Vargon in 1943, but 5 months following their marriage, Vargon was sent overseas to fight in Africa as a pilot during the second world war. Vargon was killed in action in Tunisia only 17 days after he was deployed. Following her husband’s death, Kathryn Vargon moved to New York City, New York and taught exercise and posture classes at the DuBarry Success School. In 1945, Vargon met George “Robert” Kropp, whom she married that same year. The two moved to California in 1946 where they had their first son, George Kropp Jr., shortly after they moved. The Kropps went on to have 3 more sons: Alan Kropp, who was born in 1948; David Kropp, who was born in 1951; and Gary Kropp, who was born in 1961. Kathryn and Robert Kropp divorced in 1968 and Kathryn began teaching Physical Education again shortly after. In 1986, Kropp married John Triplett, one of her former high school sweethearts. They were married until John Triplett’s death in 1998. In 2001, Triplett’s sons took her to Tunisia to finally view Victor Vargon’s grave.

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