Donald “Don” Robert Koester, age 83, of Iola, formerly of Piqua, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 28, 2023, at St. Luke’s South Hospital, Overland Park, after a brief illness.
Don was born to Robert and Eva (Reedy) Koester on a farm two miles west of Piqua and grew up on the family farm southwest of Piqua, graduating from Yates Center High School in 1958.
He attended Emporia State University where he completed an accounting degree and later received endorsement as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Throughout his career in accounting, Don worked in several businesses which began at Phillips Petroleum in Kansas City and later Bartlesville, Okla.
Upon the death of his father, Don returned to Piqua to take over the family farm where he also worked at Thompson’s Poultry and was an accountant and Distribution Manager at The Gates Rubber Company.
On August 10, 1963, Don married Jacqueline Dene DePriest in St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Piqua. They were blessed with three children (Angela, Robert and Tracy). They later divorced and he married Malala Jill Burgess.
Don served in the National Guard, and was a member of the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and a member and past president of the Kansas State Fox and Coyote Hunter’s Association. Don retired from The Gates Rubber Company in 2005 after 29 years of service.
In retirement, Don enjoyed spending time on his family farm, with his children and their families, exploring the countryside, and watching the KC Royals and KC Chiefs. Don was very prideful of his children and granddaughter and will be missed greatly and lovingly remembered by his family and friends.
Don was preceded in death by his father, (Robert), mother (Eva), brother-in-law Edward Wichmann (Marlene), brother-in-law Bill Aguirre (Roberta) and nephew Brian Jones (Richard and Mary Jane).
Don is survived by his son, Robert Koester of Iola; his daughters, Angela Hampton and husband, Randal, of Greenville, S.C., and Tracy Keller and husband, Charlie, of Friendswood, Texas; granddaughter, Savannah Hampton of Washington, D.C.; three sisters, Roberta Aguirre of Kansas City, Mo., Marlene Wichmann of Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Mary Jane Jones (Richard) of Claremore, Okla.; and many nieces and nephews.
Don’s family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 2, 2023, from in The Venue at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 U.S. 54, Iola.
A Rosary will be recited at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at St. Martin’s Oratory, Piqua, Kansas, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 o’clock. Burial will follow in St. Martin’s Catholic Cemetery.
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