Memorial

Arthur Edward Koehler died Friday, February 15, 2013 after a short but serious illness. Services will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Visitation will be held Tuesday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Interment will follow the service at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery. Born June 21, 1925 and raised in Cedar Rapids, he was the son of Arthur Koehler and Beulah Mefford Koehler. His sister Mary Koehler died in 2006.Dad graduated from Wilson High in 1943 and like most boys of his generation became a soldier in WWII. He earned all five battle stars of the European Theater, was part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy and was a witness to the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald. Upon returning to Iowa in January of 1946, Dad attended Coe College and married Marguerite Wennermark August 17, 1947.After graduating from Coe, Dad taught English in State Center IA, at Coe College and at Washington High in Cedar Rapids, where as an English/ Journalism teacher he helped name the new school’s newspaper, “The Surveyor.” He earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa in 1955 and was for many years a major in the Air Force Reserves.He finished his teaching career at Wilson Middle School and retired, after which he enjoyed traveling with Mom, working in his yard and volunteering many hours at the Heritage Area Agency on Aging, The Alzheimer’s Association, the C.R. Public Library and St. Luke’s Hospital. After decades of minimizing his service to his country in the war, he was persuaded to accept the opportunity to travel as part of an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. on June 5, 2012. Dad was a lifelong great and varied reader, seldom seen without a book.He is survived by his wife Marguerite, his children Cheryl, Randy and Linda, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. We thank Dad’s main caregivers, Jennifer, Jo, Anne and Irma and also Erin at St. Luke’s Hospice. He was a private, fair and honorable man, a great husband and father. We’ll miss you, Dad.Donations may be made to Camp Courageous.