Kenneth Guy Oregon 1926 - 2003

OREGON GREEN KOENIGS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/12/2010 at 15:10:21

Sioux City Journal
25 January 2003

SALIX, Iowa -- Kenneth G. Oregon, 76, of Salix died Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mapleton, Iowa, with the Rev. Mark Duchaine officiating. Burial will be in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, with military rites conducted by the 185th Iowa Air National Guard Unit. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Armstrong Funeral Home in Mapleton.

Kenneth Guy Oregon was born Sept. 19, 1926, in rural Oto, Iowa, the son of Phillip and Opel (Green) Oregon. He grew up in the area and graduated from Oto High School. He then served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II with the occupation forces in Japan.

On Feb. 14, 1952, Ken was united in marriage to Ruth Koenigs at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mapleton. He farmed with his father for a time and then started working at Koenigs' Furniture and Appliance in Mapleton and later at Little Joe's TV and Appliance for a total of 30 years. After having endured a heart attack, he began work as a janitor at Maple Valley High School in Mapleton, where he worked for 10 years before retiring. The couple moved to Salix in 1992.

He was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and a past member of the Knights of Columbus. He served his community on the Mapleton Volunteer Fire Department for 20 years. He was also a member of the Mapleton Community Club and American Legion Loren Hollister Post 496 of Mapleton. Ken was a man who loved the outdoors and the time he could find to go fishing, but the time he spent with little kids and his family brought him the greatest pleasure.

Those survivors left to cherish Ken's memory include Ruth, his wife of 50 years; a daughter and her husband, Karen and Greg Trucke of Bronson, Iowa; two sons, Phil Oregon and his wife, Kira of Oto, and Pat Oregon of Luton, Iowa; eight grandchildren; a great-grandchild; a sister and her husband, Louise and Gary Crouch of Windsor, Colo.; along with several other relatives, neighbors and numerous friends.

Ken was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Darrell and Ken's twin brother, Keith.