Doris May Koonse

Doris May Koonse, age 92, of Pilot Grove, Mo. died February 5, 2019 at St. Luke's Hospice House, Kansas City, Mo.

The Rosary will be from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m., Friday, February 8, 2019 with a visitation following until 7:30 p.m. at Meisenheimer Funeral Home, 200 Roe St., Pilot Grove, Mo.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 A.M., Saturday, February 9, 2019 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 407 Harris St., Pilot Grove with interment immediately following at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Pilot Grove.

Doris was born September 7, 1926 in Pilot Grove to Raymond and Grace Schuster Quinlan. She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Kenneth Koonse; her parents; infant brother David Quinlan; brothers Earl of Marshall, Mo. and Wilbur Quinlan of Sedalia, Mo.

Surviving Doris are her five children; Steven Koonse (Jenny) of Leeton, Mo., Alan Koonse of North Little Rock, Ark., Randall Koonse of Trinidad, Colo., Christie Koonse of Denver, Colo., Julie Sturm (Bill) of Overland Park, Kans.; six grandchildren April Koonse (James) of Beasley, Tex., Betty Koonse (Mike Lay) of St. Louis, Mo., John Koonse (Hailie) of Olathe, Kans., Garrett Holtz (Emily Tuteur) of Brooklyn, N.Y., Kris Sturm of Overland Park, Kans., Patrick Sturm of Overland Park, Kans., and great-granddaughter Violet Koonse of Beasley, Tex.

Doris had an exceptionally close and loving relationship with her siblings and is also survived by her sisters Marjorie Heim and Wilma Embrey, both of Pilot Grove, Mo.; brother Jerry Quinlan (Loretta) of Boonville, Mo., as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. In elementary school, Doris was a peer model to her brother Earl who had special needs, helping him achieve an 8th grade diploma.

Doris graduated from Pilot Grove High School in 1944, where she was the captain of her basketball team. During high school and some summers, she worked at the Pilot Grove telephone office and the Boonville shoe factory. Following graduation, she moved to Kansas City and attended Central Business College while working part time at Woolworth's lunch counter and Hallmark Cards and then full time at Bruce Dodsen Insurance Agency.

On June 17, 1946, Doris married Kenneth Koonse from Boonville, Mo. They made their home on a farm near Pilot Grove, Mo. and later moved into a new home in Pilot Grove. She was a parishioner of St. Martin Catholic Church near Pilot Grove and later St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pilot Grove. She was a leader and volunteer for numerous parish activities, to include the St. Joseph Altar Sodality as well as years serving as chairman of the St. Joseph Labor Day picnic. She was a homemaker and held various community membership and leadership positions such as co-chairman of the Pilot Grove Centennial Committee; leader of the Happy Workers 4-H club; a member of the Red Hat Society; a volunteer for the Cooper County Historical Society; Pilot Grove High School PTA; Community Blood Drive volunteer; and volunteer fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Doris was a lifelong Democrat and was also an election day volunteer. In the late 1960's - early 1970's, she took part in a research study at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center in Columbia, Mo. for a diagnostic technique called a "mammogram".

Prior to his death in 1997, Doris and her husband Kenneth enjoyed traveling and visited nearly every state in the U.S. as well as trips to Vancouver, British Columbia and Seoul, South Korea. In 1998 she fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting Ireland.

She was an avid sports fan rooting for both the Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals football teams and Royals and Cardinals baseball teams. She was especially a fan of college football and basketball. She and her husband Kenneth had season tickets for more than 20 years to University of Missouri football and season tickets for several years to the (then) Big 8 basketball tournament in Kansas City. She was so knowledgeable about college basketball coaches and teams that she once won the NCAA bracket at Quinlan's Barber Shop in Pilot Grove and was often sought out for tournament bracket advice.

Doris had a beautiful singing voice and was well known for her fantastic cooking. In fact, many times her cakes for various bake sales and church events were snatched up before they hit the sale table. One of her proudest accomplishments was that all five of her children obtained college degrees. She enjoyed reading the Kansas City Star newspaper, working the crossword puzzle, and loved being outdoors tending her flowers, garden and yard. She was kind, classy, funny, reliable, interested and interesting.

The family suggests donations to St. Joseph Catholic School of Pilot Grove, Mo. in memory of Doris May Koonse.

Online condolences may be submitted to www.meisenheimerfuneralhome.com.

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