Erma Koehn
Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, June 21, at Calvary United Methodist Church in Normal, with Rev. Randy Perry officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church. Cremation rites have been accorded by Carmody-Flynn Williamsburg Funeral Home, Bloomington. Inurnment will be in Mansfield Community Cemetery at a later date.
Memorials may be made to Calvary United Methodist Church or a charity of the donor's choice.
She was born Oct. 28, 1911, in Dietrich, daughter of Robert and Lena Grahn Prahl. She married Harold Koehn on March 21, 1931, in Mansfield. He preceded her in death on Aug. 4, 1978. She was also preceded in death by one brother and three sisters.
Surviving are one daughter, Carol (Delmar) Hillman of St. Joseph; one son, Kenneth (Nancy) Koehn of Normal; two granddaughters, Julie (Brian) Spiak of Orlando, Fla., and Bobbi Jo (Jared) Veazey of Mayfield, Ky.; and two great-granddaughters.
Erma graduated from Mansfield High School in 1928 and earned her teacher's certificate at Illinois State Normal University. She taught school in Piatt County in a country school.
She was a pianist for the Centerville Methodist Church, the Mansfield Methodist Church, and later for the St. Joseph Methodist Church.
She was one of the first women to actively drive tractors and trucks, assisting her husband with his farming operation.
Once her children were in college, she began working at the University of Illinois in the Office of Administration and College of Liberal Arts and Science, retiring in 1971.
After the death of her husband, she moved to St. Joseph, where she began volunteering for senior services and playing the piano for five nursing homes and the Methodist Church.
In 1988, Erma was named Queen of the St. Joseph Fall Festival for her service to the town and community.
After her 80th birthday, Mrs. Koehn enrolled in a class at Parkland College called "Creative Writing." She wrote short stories about her life growing up during the Depression. With the encouragement of her classmates and family, she published these stories in a book titled "Hand Me Downs."
Later she wrote another book about her sister's battle with ALS titled "Have You Ever Seen An Apple Blossom." She had book signings in Champaign, Monticello and Bloomington.
Erma moved to the Windsor of Savoy in 2002, where she continued entertaining with her piano skills by playing for singalongs and as pianist for their church services.
In 2012, she moved to the Blair House in Normal, where she made many new and dear friends.
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