PVT> Katie M. Soenksen Rowella1987~2007

SOERKENSEN, LOVEJOY, ROWELLA

Posted By: Mary Ellen Lanigan (email)
Date: 5/8/2007 at 14:41:56

Katie M. Soenksen
1987 - 2007
Funeral Services and a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial for Pfc. Katie M. Soenksen, U.S. Army, 19, a resident of Davenport, will be 10 a.m., Thursday, May 10, at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, 4105 N. Division Street, Davenport. The family will greet friends at a memorial visitation to be held Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Davenport North High School, 626 W. 53rd Street, Davenport. Inurnment will be in National Cemetery, Rock Island Arsenal, with full Military Honors.

Pfc. Soenksen died Wednesday, May 2, 2007, in West Baghdad, Iraq, while participating with U.S. Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Katie was born May 20, 1987, in Davenport, a daughter of Ronald L. and Mary Ann (Lovejoy) Soenksen. Katie was united in marriage to Specialist Benjamin Rowella, U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Texas.

She attended John F. Kennedy Catholic Elementary School in Davenport and graduated from Davenport North High School in 2005. While at North she participated in choir, softball and the ROTC Program. She enlisted in the Army immediately after graduation and was a member of the 410th Military Police Company, Fort Hood, Texas.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Army Emergency Relief Organization www.aerhq.org/; North High School Activities Program; a college fund for Katie's nieces; or to the JFK Tuition Fund.

Survivors include her husband, Benjamin; parents, Ron and Mary Ann Soenksen, Davenport; a sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Eric Goodin, Blue Springs, Missouri; a brother, Matt Soenksen, Davenport; nieces, Aria Goodin, Audrienna Soenksen and Braylee Gillespie; grandmother, Erma Stephens, Bettendorf; aunts, Maureen Bergom, Bettendorf, Vicky (Darrell) Peterson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Beverly (Russell) Babb, Johnston, Iowa, Connie Wight, Dennison, Iowa, and Lt. Colonel Rose USAF Ramirez and Manny Ramirez, San Antonio, Texas; uncles, Roger (Georgia) Lovejoy, Bettendorf, Frank (Debbie) Lovejoy, Davenport, Steve (Cindy) Lovejoy, Bettendorf, and Warren "Tony" (Sheila) Lovejoy, Davenport; as well as numerous loving cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by grandparents, Warren and Donna Lovejoy and Walter Soenksen. The family also wants to acknowledge those in her platoon who so heroically attempted to defend her life, as well as for Connor an Iraqi interpreter who sacrificed his life to help save hers. May they rest in peace.
Published in the Quad-City Times on 5/8/2007.