Germaine A. Koehler

Gerri was born January 16, 1925 to Ben and Lucinda (Heger) Windl in Jefferson, Wisconsin. She later moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her parents. She completed three years of high school. Following her junior year of high school, she went to work in a factory that produced parachutes for the military. Following WWII, she met her husband Raymond H Koehler. They were married November 16, 1946 at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ray served in the Army Air Corps in Burma during WWII. He was honorably discharged from the Air Corps and returned to Milwaukee. Gerri and Ray had six children, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. Their children are Sandra (Al) Urban of Arlington Heights, Illinois, Linda (Greg) Diciaula of Brookfield, Wisconsin, Cheryl (Ron) Berger of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, Lucinda (Patrick) Wilks of San Antonio, Texas, Jill (Larry) Riffel of Franklin, Tennessee, and Paul Koehler of West Bend, Wisconsin. During Gerri’s marriage, she worked at a department store and later at the Hostess Baking Company Thrift Store. Following retirement from the thrift store, she and Ray moved to Lakeland, Florida where they spent several years before moving to Texas. During retirement the couple also enjoyed travel to Germany and several places in the United States. Ray died November 21, 2005. After Ray’s passing, Gerri was briefly married to Col William L Hurt (USAF, Ret.) before his passing in 2010. She and William travelled to Costa Rica, and Belize. Geri’s hobbies included sewing, knitting, crocheting, counted cross stitch, and playing the organ. As her eyesight began to decline, she continued to crochet and listen to audiobooks. She is survived by her six children, nine grandchildren, one great grandchild, a sister-in-law Eileen Windl as well as several nieces and nephews. Those that preceded her in death are her parents Ben and Lucinda Windl, first husband Raymond Koehler, second husband William Hurt, brother Myrlin Windl, sister and brother-in-law Janet Ann and Erv Krasemann.