Fred Koster Obituary

November 27, 1919 - December 26, 2007 Fred H. Koster of Battlement Mesa flew his final mission December 26, completing his tour-of-duty on this earth after a short illness. He joins his WWII flight crew and others of "The Greatest Generation" who preceded him. Mr. Koster is survived by Alma, his wife of 62 years; sons Ronald and Fred; daughter-in-law Harriet; grandchildren Morgan and Anna; sisters Joan Schutt and Adelaide Wahrenburg and her husband Lester; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as good friends and neighbors. Born November 27, 1919, in New York City, he proudly served our country in WWII with the 15th Air Force as a B-24 "Liberator" bomber pilot of the 450th Bomb Group, the famous "Cottontails" stationed in Manduria, Italy. Lt. Koster flew his 50 missions in 1944 including raids on the treacherously defended Ploesti oil refinery complex. After completing his foreign military service, he married Alma Jean Rapjack on April 29, 1945, in Colorado Springs her hometown. They had met in Colorado before he went overseas when he was in training. She was a nurse in the Cadet Nurse Corp. Following his discharge in 1945 they moved to New York City where he worked as a draftsman in midtown Manhattan. Both sons Ronald and Fred were born there in 1946. The family relocated to Colorado Springs in 1955, eventually settling in Manitou Springs. Fred worked at the Air Force Academy from 1958 to retirement in1980. Initially as a draftsman, the majority of his Federal Civil Service career he was as a Contract Administrator at the Academy. Fred and Alma retired to Battlement Mesa in 1986 to be close to son Fred, construction manager, and his wife Harriet, teacher and librarian, now retired, and, of course, the grandchildren Morgan and Anna, who lived on Wallace Creek near the Mesa. Fred and Harriet live there still, their children making their residence in Grand Junction, Anna a teacher and Morgan a computer specialist. Early in their retirement Fred and Alma traveled extensively in the US by RV and in Mexico by RV caravan. Their winters were usually spent in Florida with son Ronald, a lawyer in Tampa. They visited with transplanted New York relatives who had escaped the cold and explored the flea markets and, naturally, shopped at Walmart. Fred enjoyed an active retirement, although Alma noted, "he knew how to pace himself." The highlight of one winter's sojourn in Florida was a cruise Ron and his father took which included the Panama Canal and an excursion by railroad into the Costa Rican rainforest. In 2003 Fred, Alma and Ron went on a 14-day cruise making 10 ports-of-call around the Caribbean. Fred's sister Joan Schutt and husband Marty accompanied them. Fred enjoyed anything that rolled, flew, or traveled through the water, that is, anything large or small that moved. His hobbies for many years included model railroading and radio controlled model aircraft and boats, even a submarine. He never had enough batteries. Mr. Koster was a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church attending the Rifle Emmanuel Lutheran Church. A sustaining life member of the VFW, he believed in generous support of veterans' causes. A contribution to any veteran's organization in his name would be a fitting tribute to his memory. A memorial service will be conducted on Saturday, December 29, 2007, at 2:00 PM: Emmanuel Lutheran Church 625 East 5th Street Rifle, Colorado 81650 Pastor Edward Schmidt presiding