Obituary of Doris Koontz

Doris Koontz (nee Cummings) died on Sunday 12/30/2012. She was born in 1920 in Tacoma, WA. Her parents were William Alfred and Rosie Cummings. She was the 3rd youngest of 7 siblings. All preceded her in death. She was raised in the north end of Tacoma and attended Washington Grade school, Mason Intermediate School and a 1939 graduate of Stadium High school. Also attended Beutel Business College. Married Fax O. Koontz Sr. on 12/20/1941 in Watertown, New York. He preceded her in death on October 17th, 1994. They were married for 53 years; 22 of these years as an Army Air Corp and then Air Force wife. They were stationed at US Air Force bases located in Ohio (Wright-Patterson); at Kissimmee, Florida (TDY for 6 months); 4 years at Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas; 4 years at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada; several times at McChord AFB in Tacoma, WA; 2 years at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico and overseas for 4 years at Laon Air Base in France. While in the service, they had and are survived by three children; Fax Koontz, Jr. of Longview, WA, Linda Koontz (Dennis Shaw) of Helena, MT and Rose Owens (Harold Downing) of Tacoma, WA. An interesting aside of life in the military is that Fax, Jr. was born in West Virginia and left within 3 months; Linda was born at Wright-Pat in Ohio and the family moved to Texas within 6 months and last, Rose was born in San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston hospital and left 3 weeks later for Las Vegas. Of course, Doris handled all these activities as Fax, SR. was on active duty at the new base. She is also survived by 4 grandchildren; Kelburn Koontz, Kiris Koontz, Bryan Owens and Carisa Owens; one great grandchild Oryn Scott Koontz born on 8-8-2012 and many nieces and nephews. While stationed in France, Doris and the family rented and lived in a 3 large bedroom unit in a little French town named La Bouvette par Fourdrain. The house was previously a portion of a pre-war meat packing plant. The kids had great fun exploring the old non-functioning part of the building. On the property was a bombed out older building where Fax Jr. found a clip of bullets in the hayloft. Also found in the woods were two German helmets from WWII. Linda made friends with Martine, the daughter of 'Farmer Brown' out next door neighbor and spent hours sitting on their Belgium Budweiser horse with Martine while plowing his garden and fields. Doris tried to keep the girls in line by threatening that she would give them to the gypsies if they didn't straighten up. Lo and behold, one day there was a knock on the door and there stood several gypsies selling baskets that they wove. No more discipline problems after that. They also travelled throughout northern France visiting Roman ruins in Guise, a storybook castle in Pierrefonds, the cathedral at Reims along with the Cordon Rouge champagne winery that was located in an extensive cave network and many other unique sites recommended to us by our landlady Madame Soule. The family also visited Normandy touring the American cemetery and various battle sites. Especially interesting were the German bunkers overlooking the English Channel. There were bombed out German tanks, guns and trucks hither and yon back then. Other trips included a family camping trip through Bavaria visiting all the castles, cathedrals and other sites of interest; trips to Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, Belgium to see the memorial at Bastogne noted for "The Battle of the Bulge" and also General Patton's gravesite.. During their retirement they enjoyed travelling around the US visiting a myriad of friends they met in the service and relatives from Washington, Ohio and West 'By God' Virginia. They enjoyed camping and fishing wherever they went. Had many family get-togethers at the cabin they built in 1967 in Echo Valley, WA, close to the west entrance of Mt Rainier National Park. After Doris was widowed, she became active in several senior clubs and a volunteer at St Joseph Hospital and Franklin Elementary School. Doris and friends from the senior center formed an impromptu canasta club that met monthly at their different homes for a canasta 'tournament'. At her request, there will be no service. A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday January 6th, 2013. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Heart Association. Please sign the guest book at this site.