KOENIG, Raymond F. 1910-2010
KOENIG, RAECKER
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 9/7/2010 at 21:02:26
[Waterloo Courier, Tuesday, May 25, 2010]
Raymond F. Koenig, age 99, of Waterloo died peacefully on Saturday, May 22, 2010, at the Cedar Valley Hospice Home.
Born June 24, 1910, to John and Mary (Raecker) Koenig near Bremer, Iowa, Ray was the youngest of nine children, having eight older sisters, all deceased. Mildred, his wife who passed on just after their 70th wedding anniversary, also predeceased him. Ray is survived by two sons, Gary (wife Marie) of Indianapolis and Derwood of Greenfield, Ind. Ray had recently been a resident of Ridgeway Place in Waterloo.
Ray grew up on the family farm near Bremer. As a young man he learned the meat cutting trade at Pete Buehrer's market in Waverly. Those were the days when sauerkraut, herring, etc. were stored in barrels and when customers like Roy's Café would bring in a crock to get the daily grind of hamburger.
Ray met Mildred in Waverly, where he courted her with the Roy's 5 cent hamburgers that they enjoyed on the banks of the Cedar River. They were married June 18, 1934, and moved to Waterloo where Ray managed the Please-U meat department. When World War II began, he joined the war effort in production of tank parts at John Deere Co. and when the war ended, he returned to being a meat cutter at Black's Department Store. He managed Black's and later the Waterloo A & P meat departments. When Bill Dunkle constructed a neighborhood market on Byron Avenue, he selected Ray to manage that meat department, a job Ray held until he retired due to health issues.
For a number of years, Ray drove for the Black Hawk Council On Aging and occasionally provided financial advice for the agency's clients.
An avid gardener, Ray was known for his prize gladioli. When growing them proved too labor-intensive, he focused on growing vegetables, especially tomatoes. Neighbors knew of "his" tomatoes, often stopping by to obtain some. Ray was a longtime Waterloo Men's Garden Club member and editor of their newsletter, the Cedar Seeder, for several years.
Ray and Mildred were members of the First Evangelical United Brethren Church on Waterloo's East Park Avenue. When a new place of worship was needed, Ray volunteered to be on the original building committee, whose service resulted in the new church constructed on Kimball Avenue. At his passing, he was the only remaining member of that original committee. Recently, Ray donated funding for a beautiful ring of oak trees around the church's parking area and a lilac hedge at the church's main entrance.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at Kimball Avenue United Methodist Church, 1207 Kimball Avenue in Waterloo, with burial in the Garden of Memories Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the church. The Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Cedar Valley Hospice Home, PO Box 2880, Waterloo, Iowa 50704-2880.
The family thanks the staff of Ridgeway Place and Cedar Valley Hospice for their care and compassion.
Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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