Blanche Frances Koons passed away Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Rawlins County Health Center at the age of 104. She was the fifth of six children born to Roy and Sophia (Kletchka) McKain, on September 26, 1918, on the McKain homestead in Rawlins County. She attended Prairie View country school through the eighth grade.
Blanche met Gene Koons who worked for her brother-in-law. They were married on August 31, 1950, at St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church in Lakewood, CO. To this union a son, Roy, was born November 17, 1951. They remained in Colorado until 1976 when Gene could no longer work due to disabilities. They moved back to Kansas, closer to Blanche’s family and in 1989, after her father’s death, they moved onto the family homestead.
Blanche loved to cook and
enjoyed large family dinners at the holidays. She especially enjoyed
visits from the neighborhood children, and she felt like a proxy grandma
to them. She always enjoyed visitors and they seldom left without being
offered a cookie or some other treat. In her later years, even after
she developed dementia, you still couldn’t leave without her offering to
share her favorite soft cookie. Her son became her full-time caregiver,
and she was able to remain in her family home. Despite her problems,
her humor always remained, sometimes when least expected. She was a
lifelong Catholic and a member of the Alter Society for many years. She
loved the farm and enjoyed her home until near the end of her life.
Blanche was preceded in death by her husband Gene; her parents;
brothers, Oscar, Lewis and Ralph and her sisters, Gertrude Antholz and
Irene Hopkins.
She leaves behind her son Roy and many nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors.
Visitation is from 5-7:00 p.m. with a Vigil at 7:00 p.m., Sunday,
February 5, 2023, at St John Catholic Church, rural Atwood. Funeral Mass
is at 10:30 a.m. Monday, February 6, 2023, also at St. John Catholic
Church. She will be the fourth generation of her family buried at the
Immaculate Conception Cemetery, alongside her husband.
Memorials may be made to the organization of the donors choosing and may be sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com