Laura J. Koontz

Laura Jane (Taylor) Koontz, Lincoln, formerly of Kearney, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 25, in Lincoln. A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, Kearney, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Laura Koontz Elementary Education Scholarship Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation, or to the First Presbyterian Church of Kearney Choir. There will be no visitation. She was born April 26, 1927, in York, NE, to Samuel McConaughy and Ruth Keyroku (Watson) Taylor. She grew up on a farm four miles east of Polk. She lost her mother to cancer in 1936, and with her sister was raised by her father, with an extended family of aunts and uncles assisting. She attended country school at Polk, and later Stromsburg, where she graduated from high school in 1945 with a normal certificate. That fall she began teaching in a one-room school near Polk. She taught country school for four years, took courses at York College during the summer and enrolled full time in 1949. In college, she played violin in the orchestra and traveled extensively with the college choir. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1952. On June 6, 1952, she married George Frederick (Fred) Koontz at her father’s home in York. She taught primary grades at Clarksville and Little Rock, AR, and was one of the first teachers in the federal Head Start summer program in that state. The family moved to Kearney in 1966, and she taught at Bryant Elementary School there until retiring in 1990. She earned a master’s degree in education at Kearney State College in 1969. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Kearney and sang in the church choir for 41 years. She was a Red Cross volunteer, a polling place volunteer, a Trails and Rails Museum docent and a member of the Kearney and Lincoln chapters of PEO. She was a long time board member and past co-president of the Kearney Community Concert Association and a charter member and past president of the Alpha Delta Kappa educational sorority in Kearney. She was a lifetime member of the National Education Association. Laura and Fred moved to Lincoln in 2007, where she attended the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church. Laura was an excellent cook, loved her vegetable garden and flowers, and was always eager to travel. With her husband she visited Europe six times – once on a backpack trip – and also visited China, Russia and Canada, as well as much of the U.S. She enjoyed the theater, orchestra, ballet, modern dance and other classical stage entertainment. She enjoyed reading and listening to classical music, entertaining friends and her grandchildren. A true child of the Depression, she scrimped and saved resources, never wasted water and kept a neat, dust-free house. She was even-tempered and kind, patient and always gracious. She is survived by her husband; two children, Allan (Mary Kay), Lincoln; Moray (Douglas) Greenfield, Los Angeles, CA; and a sister, Martha (Tom) Brown, Omaha. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Heidi (Jeremy) Bellner, Whitehouse, OH; Allison (Nathan) Luce, Haskins, OH; Jeff Koontz, Los Angeles, CA; Evan Koontz, Waterville, OH; and Chase Greenfield, Los Angeles. Also surviving are five great-grandchildren, Riley and Ethan Bellner; and Devin, Eleanor and Madeleine Luce; sister-in-law, Margaret Koontz, Hastings, NE; brother-in-law Alva Koontz, Council Bluffs, IA; and many nieces and nephews.

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Laura J. Koontz

April 26, 1927 - August 25, 2015