Donald Clay Koenig

Donald Clay Koenig was born in Buffalo, New York on March 22, 1934. His parents were C. Warner Koenig and Ruth Chaney Koenig. A short time later, the Koenig family moved to Mountain Brook, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.

After his January 1957 graduation from the University of Colorado in Boulder, with a Bachelor of Arts in geology, Don attended the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida at officer candidate school. He was commissioned in July of 1957 and sent to AIO School at Norfolk for a few months and then assigned to sea duty staff on Okinawa (Taiwan Patrol Force) aboard USS Pine Island and Salisbury Sound (seaplane tenders) on their WestPac tours. His last year was at NAAS Brown Field, Chula Vista, California, until September of 1961. For a short time, Don lived in Coronado near NAS North Island. He moved to Pacific Heights in San Francisco for his first civilian job with Kern County Land Company (oil leasing).

He then moved back to Colorado, where he lived in Lakewood, as well as Glenwood Springs and Colorado Springs. One of his favorite locations was Aspen, where he was the first city and Pitkin County sanitarian, 1965 - 1969. He loved being a part of the Aspen community and made many life-long friends there.

At age 40 in Colorado, he accepted a 3-year training program as a buildings manager with the federal General Services Administration. That led to his transfer to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1977. A few years later he accepted a geology position with the Bureau of Land Management and ended up living in Anchorage for over 18 years as a geologist. His particular job as a BLM geologist was validating, with summer field work and detailed written reports, that the applicants for patent of their specified gold mining claims had sufficient gold value, as required. He spent two summers on a single long chain of claims on Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska. His co-workers always enjoyed assignments with him in the field, where he was held in high regard.

After retirement in mid 1995, at age 60, he returned to his home state of Alabama, where he happily reconnected with his many childhood friends. He immersed himself in an extensive array of world travel by land and sea. He thoroughly enjoyed cruising to exotic ports of call. He soaked up the culture, sights and beauty of our precious earth. He was a kind, generous and gentle man and much beloved by those who knew him.

Donald passed away on October 30, 2022, due to severe injuries caused by a fall in his home. He is survived by his Aunt Vivian Chaney, 8 first cousins, and numerous younger cousins.

Friends are cordially invited to celebrate Mr. Koenig's life and legacy at Birmingham's historic Elmwood Cemetery in block 24 on November 17, 2022 at 2pm.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.johnsridoutselmwoodchapel.com for the Koenig family.