Koeneman, Louis (Lou) E.

Born May 29, 1919
Died July 30, 2010

Obituary:

Koeneman, Louis E. on Friday, July 30, 2010 Born to the late Louis & Florence Koeneman. Husband of Nancy Koeneman (nee Ralston) and the late Jean Gorman. Father of Sandra (Jim) Morris and the late Sharon O’Brian. Stepfather of Dianne (Paul) Hollis and David Koenig. Brother of the late Norman (Peggy) Koeneman. He a was grandfather, great grand father & great-great grandfather, uncle, cousin & friend to many. Lou was a proud member of the St. Louis & St. Charles Baseball Hall of Fame. He also was an avid bowler and bowled on many teams. His greatest delight for the past 25 years was to sing with the Florissant Barbershoppers.

The Stygar Family of Funeral Service is caring for Louis’s family at the STYGAR FLORISSANT CHAPEL, 13980 New Halls Ferry Rd. where services will be held on Monday, August 2 at noon. Interment Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. VISITATION, SUNDAY 3-7PM. In Lieu of flowers memorials to the Florissant Barbershoppers @ 10432 Toelle Ln 63137 or American Diabetes Association appreciated.

From 2010 Annual Show Program:

In Memoriam

     You never wanted to ask Lou why fire engines are red if you were in a hurry. He was a pretty amazing guy. From baseball to bowling to telling jokes to barbershopping he was hard to beat. He was selected to both the St. Louis and St. Charles amateur baseball halls of fame. I'm not sure if he got any awards for bowling, but he sure enjoyed it, and he for sure enjoyed telling jokes! As a barbershopper he served in several administrative positions, was a top seller of ads for our show program and introduced ten men to membership in our chapter. The common thread in all of these endeavors was fellowship.

     Family was important to Lou and that extended to the organizations and groups that surrounded him. He organized impromptu singing when he and his wife Nancy lived at DeSmet as the residents waited for meals. He was totally devoted to Nancy and they both loved to be at barbershop functions. In the earlier days they would be the ones leading the dancing at social functions. In recent years they still wanted to be included in the group activities, albeit at less active level. He never wanted to say "no" and sang with us as long as was physically possible.

     Lou was unique. He was loyal, had a sense of humor, worked through pain and was determined to continue his activity for as long as humanly possible. The end of the red fire engine joke - it took a while to get to it - was "...the Russians are Red, and that's why fire engines are red" - you just had to be there to get the full impact. That was Lou - you just had to be there.