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James K. Koelling Ada, OK QCWA # 36761 Chapter 63 |
ames Kent Koelling, passed away of heart failure at Mercy Hospital North in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Saturday, October 10, 2020.
Born March 21, 1951, in Milan, Indiana, he was the son of the late Lloyd Alfred and Nixie Marie Beason Koelling. Kent was preceded in death by his younger brother Michael Lloyd Koelling.
He is survived by his brother Kyle Koelling, Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and two sisters, JoDell Koelling, Batesville, Indiana, and Kim Seibel, Vero Beach, Florida. His former wife, Virginia "Ginger" Rodgers, of Oklahoma, also survives.
Kent was a 1969 graduate of Lawrenceburg High School. He attended Ball State University and Indiana State University, majoring in theater with a specialty in set design, sound, and lighting. In 1972, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and completed basic training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. Kent was then stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he learned to hunt rattlesnakes on the weekends. He was then transferred to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. SHAPE is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Allied Command Operations. He supported the base radio station, AV operation for meetings, and electrical needs in remodeling staff housing.
Kent attended several Norman, Oklahoma, vocational-technical schools, studying electronics and electricity. Probably Kent's most unusual job was at Ft. Sill in Lawton. He played an Arab raider who stealthily infiltrated American Army encampments at night.
Kent was very active with Boy Scout troops in Ada. He helped them build HAM radio towers and instructed the troops in Morse code.
VFW services will be conducted graveside in Greendale Cemetery, Lawrenceburg, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, with Chaplain Tom Williams. Memorials may be made to Pontotoc Area Amateur Radio Association, in care of Roger Sheldon, 720 W 21st St., Ada, Oklahoma, 74820.
Published on October 22, 2020