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.

At the age of 4, Foege went to live with the John H. and Ellie Janssen family of Gilmore City, Iowa due to the illness of his mother.

He also studied Individual Psychology at Bowie State University (Maryland) and received a Certificate in Psychotherapy from the Alfred Adler Institute of Minnesota.

Foege was a school social worker with Grant Wood Area Education Agency from 1978 until his tenure as an Iowa legislator.

Foege served as an assistant minority leader for two years and as the ranking Democrat on the Justice Systems Appropriations Sub-committee.

In June, 2010, Foege was appointed Director of the Iowa Department on Aging by Governor Culver serving in that position until January 2011.