David Gene Koehn

David Koehn, 52, of Brooksville passed away Thursday, March 28, 2019. Funeral service will be held at Brooksville Mennonite Church Monday, April 1, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church Sunday from 6-8 p.m.

David Gene Koehn, the firstborn child of Gladwin and Judy Koehn, was given the breath of life on October 1, 1966. He was born in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. His final day of life was March 28, 2019, his life’s breath being suddenly ended around noon in a one-vehicle logging truck accident near Geiger, Alabama. He was fifty-two.

David grew up in Goltry, Oklahoma and his first two years of schooling were received in the public schools in nearby Helena, Oklahoma. He was a cheerful and energetic young boy.

In 1974 the family, now including sisters Rachel and Bonnie, moved to Macon, Mississippi. David experienced the usual challenges of young adolescence on the farm. In May of 1978 the family was called to mission work in Mexico, serving for two years. During this time David gave his heart to the Lord and was baptized on October 23, 1979 in the little village church of San Francisco, Coahuila. David’s youth life presented the trademarks of a sanguine temperament. Outgoing and friendly, his inquisitiveness and aptitudes needed self-restraint in order to not breach the strait and narrow way.

The Lord provided a helpmeet for Dad in our mother, Sharla Rae Koehn, the daughter of Wilton and Darlene Koehn of Montezuma, Kansas. Dad and Mother were married on August 12, 1990. They lived in the Montezuma area for several years, Dad being employed in farming and other occupations. In 1998 we moved with Dad and Mom to Brooksville, Mississippi. Dad was a capable man with a welder and steel, working for Trailboss Trailers. He also drove truck for various individuals, lastly driving for various logging enterprises of the region.

David’s Christian life was fraught with struggles, and seeds that are sown bear their fruit. Yet in David’s heart he knew what he should be and wanted to be saved. He enjoyed leading singing and teaching Sunday school at the Oakwood Manor in Brooksville, Mississippi. There are those who tell of having felt a warm spirit in David in his last days. He felt behind the mark, and longed for the approval of others. He loved his two sons dearly and was “proud” of them, and to hear his two little twin grandsons call him grandpa was his joy.

Those feeling the shock and sadness of his passing are his two sons, Shawn and wife Emily, and their two boys, Tyler and Kylan, Crawford, Mississippi, and Wade, Brooksville, Mississippi; his wife, Sharla Koehn, Montezuma, Kansas; his parents, Gladwin and Judy Koehn, Macon, Mississippi; his siblings, Rachel and Delbert Koehn, Montezuma, Kansas; Bonnie and Kim Schneider, Vanceboro, North Carolina; Rebekah Koehn, Macon, Mississippi; Alice and Tony Nichols, Sabetha, Kansas; and Thomas and Tina Koehn, Fleetwood, Pennsylvania; his mother-in-law, Darlene Wedel, Montezuma, Kansas; sister-in-law, Sherry and husband Ross Koehn, Montezuma, Kansas; and brother-in-law, Shane Koehn and wife, Lorna, also of Montezuma, Kansas; a special friend who was like a brother, Daryl Schmidt and wife, Sandra, Brooksville, Mississippi, and many relatives and friends.

The family wishes to acknowledge an outpouring of condolences and kindnesses during this time of bereavement. Many thanks to everyone who so freely gave of yourselves in serving our emotional and physical needs.