[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11922]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
      HONORING THE LIFE AND DEDICATED SERVICE OF GEORGE KOEHL III

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Conaway) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and 
dedicated service of George Koehl III. On August 28 of this year, the 
Midland community celebrated his life and service with Sunday services 
and a memorial service on Saturday afternoon, August 27.
  George was born and reared in Midland, Texas, to Maggie and George 
Koehl, Jr., on August 19, 1954, and he went to meet his Lord on his 
birthday, August 19, 2016. He graduated from Midland High School in 
1972, and later received a bachelor's degree in church music and a 
master's degree in music theory and composition from Hardin-Simmons 
University in Abilene, Texas. While studying at Hardin-Simmons, George 
met the love of his life, DiAnn Schmidt. The two married and had four 
children and five grandsons.
  After completing his degrees from Hardin-Simmons University, George 
answered God's call to service and began his career in ministry. Over 
the course of the next 16 years, George served as a youth and music 
minister for multiple congregations throughout Texas. In August of 
1993, God called George back to his hometown to serve at the First 
Baptist Church of Midland, where he labored and worked for 23 years.
  I was privileged to attend First Baptist Church throughout George's 
entire tenure. Under his leadership, the music ministry excelled and 
touched many lives. The Passion Plays at Easter and the Christmas 
programs he directed were first-class productions that were enjoyed by 
capacity audiences whose lives were blessed.
  I watched George and DiAnn walk a path that I am not unfamiliar with 
in the battle of cancer. George battled his illness with grace and 
dignity and courage and a palpable faith in Jesus Christ. All who knew 
him were inspired by his dogged and iron-willed determination to not 
let cancer rob him of the service to Christ's kingdom. DiAnn set the 
bar for how spouses should support each other in good times and hard 
times, all the while battling cancer herself.
  During George's memorial service on August 27, 2016, his children 
blessed us all in reaffirming their faith in a loving and sovereign 
God. While their prayers for their dad's healing on Earth were not 
answered, they acknowledged that God had healed their dad for all 
eternity.
  Throughout his career, he consistently placed the needs of others 
ahead of his own, and he did so with the utmost integrity and devotion. 
The many qualities George exhibited serve as a shining example of how 
each of us should serve the Lord.
  George lived a life that blessed everyone that he met and made every 
community he lived in a much better place. The City of Midland declared 
August 28 as George Koehl III Day. He is greatly missed, but his legacy 
will be carried on by the many people whose lives he has touched by his 
living example.

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