Corinne Rose Koenig
Corinne Rose Koenig never forgot a birthday or anniversary, her sister Beulah Wiegert said. Mrs. Koenig loved to send cards to her family.
Mrs. Koenig died Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009. She was 82.
“We used to sit at the breakfast table and talk and talk until half of the day had gone by,” said Wiegert. Her laughter and generosity will be missed, she said.
Mrs. Koenig also loved to knit caps for newborn babies and bake her legendary pies on Sunday mornings. It seemed like she was always in the kitchen at the Campus Lutheran Church, fixing chili and pastries for local students, her sister said.
She was known for having fantastic parties and making friends easily. She was born in St. Louis in 1927, the youngest child of Alfred and Anna Wiegert.
“We called her ‘Sweetie’ when she was a kid. She knew all the neighbors, and they all knew her,” Wiegert said.
After she married Richard E. Koenig in June 1947, she became heavily active in the Lutheran Church. The family moved to the Columbia area and founded Channel 17/KMIZ in 1971. Mrs. Koenig became the secretary of what was then a small station. She was constantly busy working, sewing for charity, traveling or creating things by hand.
Mrs. Koenig, her husband and their children Tom and Nancy Lee were active at the Campus Lutheran Church in Columbia. The community of faith was important to Mrs. Koenig. She sewed baptismal cloths and chaired a fellowship team.
“I’d consider her a matriarch of the congregation,” Pastor Dave Benson said, “I can’t think of anybody who didn’t like Corinne.”
One of Mrs. Koenig’s proudest moments was teaching the pastor’s youngest daughter how to sew. She loved the opportunity to pass on her skills.
Mrs. Koenig is survived by her son, Tom Koenig of St. Louis; daughter, Nancy Lee of Denver, Colo.; brother, Raymond Wiegert of St. Louis; her sister; and three grandchildren, Carolyn Koenig, Christopher Koenig and Jonathan Lee.
Her husband and her sister Carol died earlier.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at Parker Funeral Service, 22 N. 10th St. and at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Campus Lutheran Church, 304 S. College Ave. in Columbia.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Campus Lutheran Church, at 304 S. College Ave. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.parkerfuneralservice.com.
