Elsie Koontz

Elsie Fay (Buskala) Koontz was born to Alfred Nikolai and Gertrude Salena (Smalley) Buskala on December 29, 1934 in Astoria, Oregon. She passed away August 23, 2015 in Aberdeen.

She was raised in Eden Valley, WA on the family dairy farm where she gained her love of gardening. She attended school in Rosburg and graduated from Naselle High School in 1953. She later attended LCC, Portland State and UW.

She eloped with Paul Koontz to Lewiston, Idaho and married June 15, 1953.

They lived in the Valley and she worked in Western Wahkiakum County as the telephone operator and could recognize every voice in the County.

They moved to Longview where they raised their four children. She enjoyed being a Girl Scout Leader, volunteering with the American Heart Association, and participating with the PTA. She always had a garden that produced not only fruits and vegetables but flowers and bushes in abundance. She really liked the challenge of resuscitating the dying plants from nurseries.

She was a member of First Baptist Church where she worked in the office and she, with two others developed and opened the Preschool and Day Care in 1965 that served over 200 children per year.

When the kids left the nest she traveled with Paul throughout the Northwest to several projects and continued to do so in retirement. She gathered and researched information on the genealogy of both sides of the family. She collected data, etchings, documents, pictures, and testimony from everywhere they went, putting together volumes for family going back to up to 12 generations. This was a source of great accomplishment that she shared with everyone. Eventually, they settled in Westport and Aberdeen to be nearer to family and the Beach.

Elsie is survived by her husband of 62+ years, Paul Koontz in Aberdeen, their children; Michael (Beverly) Koontz of Elma, Paula Susan Strom of Lakewood, Perry (Christa) Koontz of Koln, Germany, and Jenita (Jim) Vogt of Snohomish. Also seven Grandsons, three Granddaughters, five Great-Grandsons and four Great-Granddaughters, a sister-in-law, Marianne Koontz of Taholah and many cousins, nieces and nephews. She also appreciated all of her friends and neighbors who enriched her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Gertrude Buskala, a sister Sanna Bonner, and a brother-in-law Fred Koontz.

Her inurnment will be graveside at the Eden Valley Cemetery on Saturday, August 29 at 11 a.m., with reception following at the Rosburg Hall. Dowling Funeral Home in Cathlamet is handling arrangements.