Fikret Koşan of Benbrook, Texas, passed away on May 17th, 2024. Gentle and reserved, he could not help but endear himself to almost everyone he met.
Fikret was born to Bosnian immigrants in Burhaniye, on the western coast of Turkey on May 15th, 1937. When he was a young boy, his older brother "taught him how to swim" by throwing him off a pier into the ocean. Luckily, Fikret was a fast learner, a skill that would serve him throughout his life. Later, he would become a semi-professional soccer player in the prestigious "striker" position.
His mother's philosophies had a major impact on him. Widowed when Fikret was just a baby, she refused to remarry and let a "surrogate father" raise her son. After his brothers were conscripted into the military, Fikret took it upon himself to support his mother. Starting around age 8, he took on several odd jobs so he could bring money back home to her. During his school days, he developed a life-long interest in world history, especially the Greek, Roman, and Ottoman empires.
As a young man, Fikret joined the Turkish air force and was trained as a radar engineer. In 1966, while stationed in Denver and undergoing advanced technical training, he met his future wife, Mary Ann. Mary Ann was a farmer’s daughter and ballroom dancer from Garden City, Kansas. After receiving her parents’ blessing, the couple moved to Turkey and were married in a civil ceremony on March 30th, 1967. This was kept secret from the Turkish air force because of an Ottoman-era law prohibiting the marriage of military personnel to foreign women. Fikret remained an officer in the Turkish air force while also working as a computer engineer for IBM. During this time, the couple visited the villages of Mary Ann's Greek ancestors and the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
In 1971, Fikret took a job as a computer field technician in Omaha, Nebraska so Mary Ann could be closer to her aging parents in Kansas. He took classes and became a naturalized citizen. They also lived for several years in Las Cruces, New Mexico before retiring and settling in Benbrook, Texas.
Throughout his life, Fikret was fiercely loyal to his family and to the United States. In the latter portion of his career, he worked for a US defense contractor as a radar and computer technician. During that time, he supported projects that saved the lives of countless American soldiers.
Fikret is survived by his son Gem, and daughter-in-law Sarah. He was preceded in death by his father Musa, his brother Muzaffer, his mother Nazmiye, his brother Sükrü, and his wife Mary Ann.
A service in honor of Fikret Koşan will be held at Garnand Funeral Chapel in Garden City, Kansas on Saturday, May 25th at 10 am. He will be laid to rest at Valley View Cemetery next to his wife Mary Ann.