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In memory of

Eugene Koning

Des Moines, IA, USA

July 22, 1925 - September 20, 2019

Jul 22, 1925 - Sep 20, 2019

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Eugene Koning, 94, died on Friday, September 20, 2019, at the V.A. Central Iowa Health Care hospice facility in Des Moines, Iowa. He was born on July 22, 1925, in Nunica, Michigan, the youngest of three sons of Herman and Gertrude (van Korlaar) Koning. He spent his youth in western Michigan and central Iowa. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, he married Nellie Groenendyk of Pella, Iowa, graduated from optometry school, and opened a private practice in Bellflower, California. After Nellie’s death, he met and married Gerda van Leeuwen of Norwalk, California. Together they decided to answer a call to the mission field, serving in Tanzania and Kenya for 10 years.

Throughout his life, Eugene had an abiding concern for the world’s poor, and he used his God-given talents to address both their physical and spiritual needs. Specifically, he developed a number of simple and inexpensive processes to produce eyeglasses and visual aids for the people of Africa and India so that they might be able to read the Bible with their own eyes.

Eugene is survived by his four children: Marcia (Glenn) Vos, Shirley (Dale) Padding, Beverly (Jerry) Arends, and Paul (Carolyn) Koning; his seven grandchildren: Jane (Nate) Schelhaas, Mark (Karey) Padding, Joy (Darren) Vanden Berge, Teresa (Jason) Mayginnes, Lee Arends, Lily Koning, and Silas Koning; and nine great grandchildren: Emmett Schelhaas, Blair Mayginnes, Finley Schelhaas, Sydney Mayginnes, Gavin Padding, Mari Padding, Gage Padding, Maelyn Padding, and Dutch Vanden Berge.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his two brothers, Stanley and Wynand; and his wives, Nellie and Gerda.

Eugene will be interred at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, Iowa. A family remembrance gathering will follow at a later time.

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