Passing of John W. Koehring, Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service
John William Koehring , 83, passed away on Sunday, September 16, 2018 in Virginia Beach, after several months of declining health. He was born in Syracuse, NY on November 13, 1934 , the son of Ralph William Koehring and Mary Imogene Prince. He spent his boyhood in Dewitt, NY, attending Moses DeWitt elementary school and high school in Fayetteville, NY where he played football and basketball. During those years he was an enthusiastic Cub Scout and Boy Scout, earning the rank of Eagle Scout and spending a summer at the Philmont Ranch in the southwest. It was during those adventurous scouting years that he developed his life long love of the woods, mountains, and camping. After graduating from high school in 1952 he entered Dartmouth College to graduate in the class of 1956. He played football and rugby at Dartmouth. He lived two years at Corey Ford’s house. Corey Ford established the Dartmouth Rugby Club, one of the first rugby clubs in the United States. He was also a fraternity member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. In addition to academics and sports, he worked at the Hanover Inn, where he learned the life skill of selecting and cutting meat. While at Dartmouth, he was NROTC, and after graduating, worked at the Naval Observatory in DC, before transferring to deep sea diving in every major naval theatre of the world. He spent four years in the Navy before entering into foreign service training in preparation for a life of service with the Agency for International Development in sub-saharan Africa. Over the span of 45 years, he served in the Ivory Coast, the Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Kenya, and the Sudan. Our father was an amazingly disciplined leader who cared deeply about his colleagues. The host government officials with whom he worked knew that they were fortunate to be dealing with a counterpart who was driven to achieve mutually desired outcomes. In 1985, he was awarded the Presidential Meritorious Service Award. He retired as a Career minister and a distinguished career diplomat. In retirement, he enjoyed a more tranquil life of fishing and bonfires in the Adirondacks and surf fishing on the Outer Banks.
He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Bready Koehring, his eldest son Joseph P. Koehring, his second born son John Fritz Koehring, his youngest son Ralph Vincent Koehring, who continues a family tradition of serving overseas as a foreign service officer, his loving sister, Gretchen Strong of Southwest Harbor, Maine, and six grandchildren: Caleb, Jacob, Kazimir, Josephine, Louisa, and Gideon.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, September 21st, 2018 at 3:00 pm at Hillsboro Cemetery 15142 HILLSBORO Rd Purcellville, Virginia 20132.
Memorial Contributions may be made to Heifer Project International.
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Thank you, dear father, for being such a dedicated husband and father, and for your service to our country and the greater world.
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My deepest sympathy to the entire family on John’s passing. I enjoyed many parties at his house over the
years and found him to be a fascinating man. When he
“summered” in Keene we talked about his vegetable garden when I would run into him at the post office. I will miss seeing his truck with the PVC pipes to hold fishing
poles!
With sympathy and caring to Beth and the family,
Donna
My deepest sympathy to Beth and all of John’s family during this time of great grief and loss. We at St. John United Methodist Church in Avon, NC mourn the passing of John and will always remember his snappy bow ties and kind, genteel demeanor. We pray God’s peace that passes all understanding to under-gird you all and remind you of the promise of resurrection. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 In the strong love of Christ, Pastor Gina
We loved getting to know John and Beth at the Fessenden Center, the Anglers Club in Buxton and St. John United Methodist in Avon. His bow ties were legendary!! John even shared the best company from which to order bow ties for our grandson who also loved wearing them. We will miss him.
Gwen and Donny Taylor, Avon, NC