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August 17, 1950 - September 14, 2021Funeral services for Lavada Marie Koehn, 71, of Fairview, will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 18, 2021 at the Fairview Mennonite Brethren Church, with burial in the Cedar Cemetery. Arrangements are by Fairview Funeral Home, Inc.
Viewing at the Fairview Funeral Home Inc. will be Friday, September 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the family present between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.
Lavada Marie Koehn was born on August 17, 1950 in Enid, Oklahoma to Fred & Elizabeth Penner, weighing only 4 pounds and small enough to fit inside a shoe box, as she’d often tell us. Mom left us way too soon and passed suddenly from this life at her home on September 14, 2021.
Mom grew up in the sand hills of Isabella on the family farm where she often relived wonderful memories with us kids of her hanging out with her dear Penner cousins, picking cotton and sand plums and fishing at the Penner pond. She attended the Isabella Country School her first 8 years and then went on to Fairview High School where she graduated in 1968.
On May 2, 1971, Mom was united in marriage to David R. Koehn. As newlyweds, they moved from Burns, Kansas to Fairview to take over Mom’s parents family dairy farm. Mom spent many years helping with the daily tasks on the dairy and raising her 5 children in the home. She loved the opportunity to have busloads of school kids come to the dairy for field trips and Easter Egg Hunts. She would work feverishly making it the perfect fun experience for the kids. Mom went to work outside the home for the first time at Countryman’s Catering. Shortly after that she took a job in the cafeteria at Progressive Schools, where her children also attended. She loved those years at Progressive and developed wonderful friendships. She worked there until the school closed.
In 1995, Mom went to work at Fairview Public Schools as a teacher’s aide and paraprofessional, specifically working at the Penner Center and Cornelsen Elementary School. She worked there for the next 25 years. In May 2021, she was humbled to be recognized and given an award in acknowledgment of her 25 years of service at Fairview Public Schools. She was passionate about her job, often spending hours researching and looking for creative ways she could help her students learn. She would beam with excitement as she’d tell us that one of her students learned something new that day. She loved her co-workers and had great respect for her bosses, Don Friesen, Richard Beck, Rocky Burchfield, and Mark VanMeter. She made many life long friends at CES.
On December 1, 1963, when Mom was 13 years of age, she gave her heart and life to Christ and was baptized in the Church of God in Christ Mennonite by Minister George Nichols. Later in life she joined the Fairview Mennonite Brethren Church along with her husband and children. She immensely enjoyed serving as a deacon couple, helping with AWANA, working in the kitchen, attending Women’s Bible Studies and traveling together with friends to lunch bunch each month. She loved her church family and never wanted to miss a Sunday. Mom endured many health issues and hospital stays through the years and she was always amazed at how her church family loved on her and took care of her so well.
Some of Moms favorite times were hanging out with friends, going on road trips, most recently to Branson and a trip to Grand Lake to stay with a high school classmate. She loved eating out with friends. Having friends and family to her home for a meal, was a great joy for her. She would jump at any chance to be able to hang out and fellowship with others. She enjoyed quilting, setting puzzles with grandkids and friends, gardening, canning, working in her flower beds, and keeping Dad’s lily pond thriving.
Mom was an amazing writer and we often joked that each text she’d send us was going to be another descriptive novel. Mom was also an outstanding cook and we are going to greatly miss her home cooked meals and spur of the moment invites for lunch or supper to the farm.
Mom was stubborn, which was sometimes a good thing, at least when it came to her health. No matter what life threw at her, she was determined she would overcome it. Quitting or giving up was never an option for her. Her trust in Jesus and being surrounded with such wonderful caring friends is what got her through some of the toughest times in her life. She often would say “Lord, give me patience, but please hurry!” Mom never missed words and always said exactly what she thought. We kids often joked, “if her mouth didn’t say it, her face certainly did!”
Mom loved her family and would often talk of how blessed she was to have Daniel and Kay just down the road from her. She greatly enjoyed having their family join her for many meals so she wouldn’t have to eat alone. This past summer Mom was finally well enough after a long string of health issues, that she was able to have nine out of the ten grandkids over to spend a couple days, making precious memories on the farm. She had plans to make this time with her grandkids an annual tradition, but the Lord had other plans. Her wit, humor, generosity, many talents, lively personality and hospitality will be greatly missed by all.
She is survived by her sons, David Lynn Koehn, of Oklahoma City, Fred Lee Penner and wife Carissa of Piedmont, Daniel Ray Koehn and wife Kay of Fairview, Jared Wayne Penner and wife Crystal of Kingfisher; daughter Marshalene Wimer and husband Brad of Fairview; ten Grandchildren, Hunter, Hannah, Winston, Remington, Freddie, Dixon, Claire, Luke, Dawson, and Cooper; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her husband, David Koehn, her parents, Fred & Elizabeth Penner, and her brother, Fred Adam Penner.
Memorials may be made to the Mennonite Brethren Church (Benevolence Fund) with Fairview Funeral Home, Inc. as custodian of the funds.
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