William Emil Koenig

KOENIG — William Emil, 101; born Feb. 28, 1919, Pettibone, North Dakota; died Aug. 17, 2020, Wheatland Village in Walla Walla, Washington. Surviving: daughters, Heidi Koenig Hart, Mosier, Oregon; Sandra Koenig Jacobson, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada; Elizabeth Koenig Behrmann, Portland, Oregon; sisters, Ruth Glimsdale, Medford, Oregon; Vanice Kostenko, Orofino, Idaho; 5 grandchildren, Rachel Zickuhr Baker, Bellevue, Washington; Janna Hart Charlton, Portland, Oregon; Ginger Hart, Vernonia, Oregon; Stephanie Behrmann Hartzell, Loma Linda, California; Jonathan Behrmann, Portland, Oregon; and a great-grandchild, Renton Campbell, Beaverton, Oregon.

Bill was born to Elisabeth and Gottfried Koenig on a farm on the North Dakota prairie.

He graduated Maplewood Academy in 1946 after an interruption of four and a half years of service during World War II. He married Marjorie Livingston in 1945. They both attended Andrews University (then EMC) and he graduated in 1950. Bill began managing the farm at Newbury Park Academy, California, in 1950. He was called to Inca Union College in Lima, Peru, in 1952, where he developed a prize-winning herd of grade Holstein cattle. The student colporteurs there would say that his cows sold their books. The family returned to the U.S. in 1962. Bill finished a master's degree in Dairy Science in 1963 at Michigan State University. He then took over the management of the Walla Walla College Farm and Dairy where he developed a herd of high-producing registered Holstein Friesian dairy cows that won many awards at regional competitions.

He retired in 1984. Bill was elected to the Washington Purebred Dairy Cattle Association Hall of Fame in 1985 for his contributions to the advancement of purebred dairy cattle. Bill turned every business he managed into a financial success. Personally he always spent less than he earned; he paid for 36 years of retirement without help. He was honest and honorable and loving. We, his family, wish to honor his example.