David Frederick Koonce

1934 - 2021

Trains, planes, and automobiles were major parts of the life of Fred Koonce, a Dunnellon native who traveled the world in his career, always appreciating the opportunity that the G.I. Bill gave him to attend college and expand his horizons.
Born January 28, 1934 in Ocala to Leona Haire Koonce and David Frederick Koonce, he grew up in Dunnellon where he graduated from high school in 1952 as class valedictorian. After traveling many miles from his home town, he found no better place to retire than close to where he started. He moved to Inverness in 1999. He died February 6, 2021 at Citrus Memorial Hospital due to complications of Parkinson's Disease.
His paternal grandfather was a foreman on the phosphate mines around Dunnellon and in Citrus County during the boom days of phosphate. His mother was born in Citrus County near one of the phosphate pits around Holder.
After working for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad for a year building boxcars in the hot steamy railroad yards in Waycross, Georgia, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force toward the end of the Korean War. Stationed in Japan for two years, he took part in collecting and analyzing radioactive samples from nuclear testing activities being conducted in nearby countries.
He also formed lifelong friendships around the large model railroad layout at the base and continued that hobby for most of his life.
Following his four years of service, he used his G.I. Bill benefits to attend the University of Florida, where he majored in mechanical engineering and met his future wife, Sandra Settle, another Florida native.
They were married on June 5, 1960 and graduated on their first anniversary, June 5, 1961. The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last year.
Following graduation, Koonce took a job with the Babcock and Wilcox Research Center in Alliance, Ohio and subsequently worked for Diamond Power Corporation in Lancaster, Ohio; Ethyl Corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Heat Research Corporation and M.W. Kellogg in Houston, Texas where his major work included the design of oil refineries and steam boilers. When the oil recession in the mid-1980s affected the Houston job market, he accepted a position with Kinetics Technology International (KTI) in Los Angeles, California as engineering manager. After five years in that position, he returned to Houston as vice president/manager of the Houston operation for Birwelco International, a British-based company.
He was a licensed Professional Engineer in Ohio and Texas. Following his retirement, he was often called back to the field as a consultant on steam boilers for projects all over the world.
His lifelong love affair with trains found family vacations planned to ride behind steam engines and to explore historical and ghost railroad sites across the United States. He was especially proud of being part of a volunteer effort, while living in California, of the restoration of a retired Santa Fe Engine (number 3751) which is one of the largest working steam locomotives remaining in America. When the restoration was completed, he "engineered" the gathering of antique private passenger cars from all over America for two fan trips.
In addition to his railroad hobbies, he was a licensed private pilot, and, after retirement, restored a 1956 Ford Fairlane which was shown at many Friday night car shows in the area where its distinctive two-tone mandarin orange colors brought many compliments. He also was a Citrus County Master Gardener and active volunteer for several years.
He was a member of Conrad Lodge #271, Free and Accepted Masons, Alliance Ohio; Arabia Shrine, Houston, Texas; and the First Presbyterian Church of Inverness. For the last ten years he has suffered the effects of Parkinson's Disease, which slowed his body, but not his mind. He raced through hundreds of books during that period and was one of the consistent winners at his duplicate bridge club.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Lt. Col. (retired) David F. Koonce and his wife, Stefi, of Stuttgart, Germany; a daughter, C. Jill Koonce Godwin and her husband, Robert, of Elk Grove, California; three grandchildren, Ashlyn Koonce, Lakeland; Addilyn Koonce, a student at the University of North Georgia; and Christopher Godwin, Elk Grove, California; a sister, Frances Brown and her husband, Jim, of Blairsville, Georgia; and two sisters-in-law, Sally Barrow of Inverness and Sue Getch of Monticello, FL. Additionally, he cherished several life-long friends who made his journey on earth more special: his life-long model railroad buddy, Ron Lane and wife Peggy, of Columbus, Indiana; and friends made over gourmet dinners more than 50 years ago in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who have since been traveling companions on many interesting trips, Joe and June O'Connell of Mission Viejo, California and Jim and Mary Ann Crowe of Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Because family and friends are far flung and travel for most impossible because of COVID restrictions, a memorial service will be held via Zoom at 2 p.m. Thursday, February 18 through the First Presbyterian Church of Inverness. If interested in attending, please call 352-341-1747 so an invitation can be sent.
Interment will be held through Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home with Crematory, Inverness, FL, and burial will be at the Florida National Veterans Cemetery in Bushnell at a later date.
Those wishing to remember Fred with a memorial gift are invited to consider Shriners Hospital for Children, Office of Development, 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607.
Sign the guest book at www.chronicleonline.com.