Koger, Vondell M. 1923-2012

KOGER, STINSON, SPENCER, GURNEY, HIBBS, JOHNSON, MURPHY, HATCHER, WILLIAMS, HOLTET, NEELY, MCKINLEY

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 11/17/2013 at 17:22:06

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register
Oct. 25, 2012

VONDELL M. KOGER

Vondell M. Koger, formerly of Grinnell, died Oct. 23, 2012, at Kennybrook Village in Grimes where she had lived since May.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell, with Elders Raymond and Jimme Webb, Primitive Baptist Church, officiating. Pianist will be Erika Johnson. Pallbearers will be Brian Evans, Dan Gurney, Travis Johnson, Chuck and Eric Koger, and Ben Olson. Burial will be in the Rock Creek Cemetery, rural Jasper County, near Grinnell.

Visitation with the family present will be held one hour prior to service time at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be designated to Iowa Health Home Hospice in Grimes or to the Koger family.

Vondell was born to William Leonard and Molly Stinson Spencer on Feb. 28, 1923, in Milan, Mo., the fourth of seven children.

On May 18, 1940, she married Burton Koger, in Atlanta, Mo. The couple moved to his farm near Grinnell, where they raised their seven children. They lived on their farm for almost 50 years until moving to Grinnell due to her husband's poor health.

She was a homemaker and helped design their farm home which they built in 1951. She was also an Avon representative for nearly 40 years and won many awards before she retired at age 84 and moved to the Des Moines are in 2007 to be closer to family. She enjoyed gardening, her flowers, and traveling - the highlight of her travels being trips to Hawaii and Europe with her brother and sisters and their spouses. She was a longtime member of the Mt. Pleasant Primitive Baptist Church and was instrumental in starting the church in Grinnell.

She is survived by her children, Barbara Gurney of Reinbeck, Ronald Koger of Issaquah, Wash., Keith Koger of Hudson, Dale Koger of Spokane, Wash., Marilyn Hibbs of Ankeny, Karen Johnson of Grimes, and Jeanne Murphy of Las Vegas, Nev.; 16 grandchildren; 31 great grandchildren; three great-great grandchildren; one brother, Billy Spencer; a sister, Betty Hatcher, and Mary Alice Williams; and many other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 51 years; one grandson; a great granddaughter; one brother, Earl Spencer; and three sisters, Arlene Holtet, Jessie Neely, and Carolee McKinley.