Charles L. Koehler

Charles Louis Koehler died peacefully on the morning of September 3. Always known as “Charlie”, he was born Oct. 15, 1925 in Philadelphia, PA, the eldest child of Mary and Clarence Koehler. As a child during the Great Depression, Charlie sold pretzels on the street and helped his father run the looms in the family’s small rug shop. Charlie joined the Army after graduating high school, and served in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. Following the war, he worked as a trolley operator in Philadelphia and earned a B.S. in Engineering from Pennsylvania Military College with support from the G.I. Bill. He later earned a M.S. from Temple University. Charlie spent his career as an industrial engineer, working for the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For 45 years, he was a devoted husband to his wife Carol Ann Koehler (nee Jensvold), who died in 2003. Longtime residents of Bowie, MD, Charlie and Carol were founding and continuously active members of Grace Lutheran Church. Charlie’s passions included travel, poetry, and mathematics. In his later life he was a math tutor at Prince George’s County Community College. He also published a children’s story that framed math concepts in the daily life of a child. Charlie was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Evelyn and Theresa, and his brother James. He leaves his daughter Theresa (Edward Nikonowicz) and grandchildren Rebecca and Peter, of Houston, TX; his daughter Kristine and grandchildren Marcellas, Brittany, Charles, Mercedes, and Brianna of Bowie; and his son Jeffrey (Cynthia) and grandchildren David and Corey of Bowie. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 11 A.M at Grace Lutheran Church, 2503 Belair Drive, Bowie, MD.