World War I
William “Bill” Koenig was well known in Osmond, having lived here for many years. He was born in Columbus in 1887 to Frank and Annie Koenig. William had two sisters and three brothers, one dying at age 18.
When Bill was five years old, the family moved to Pierce County, and he lived here until entering military service in 1918. According to the military records available for Bill, he enlisted May 28, 1918, and was discharged Jan. 16, 1919, at Camp Dodge, IA.
Bill served in the U.S. Army in the 338th Field Artillery, Battery B, and served overseas. The only information I could find about his unit was that the 338th Infantry Regiment was a National Army Infantry Regiment first organized for service in World War I as part of the 85th Infantry Division in Europe.
After Bill’s discharge in 1919, he went to Gettysburg, S.D., and lived with his brother Charles for a time.
This is where he met Zella Tennant.
He married her Dec. 21, 1921. At the time, Bill was 34 and Zella was 17. It might seem like a big age difference, but the couple obviously had a happy marriage, as they were married for 37 years before his death.
Bill and Zella stayed at Gettysburg until 1935 when they moved back to Osmond. They had two children, Eva (who married Myron Hummel) and Elvin.
Larry Hummel, Bill’s grandson, shared his memories of his grandpa Bill: “He’d walk up to where we had a big garden. And he would bring his hoe with him, and a file. He had to have that hoe so sharp! And he would take me downtown to have a soda, but Grandpa would like to have one little glass of beer. But that was a no-no with Grandma. So when we would go back home, he’d give me a Sen-Sen (a small hard candy with a licorice flavor, used as a breath mint), so Grandma couldn’t tell if he had a beer.
“Sometimes he would pick me up and we would go into Pierce, to a burial plot south of Pierce, and he would trim up some of the weeds around some of the relatives down there. He was a guy who would sit there and talk while he was driving along, and pretty soon he’d go ‘Oh!
I’m speeding!’ So he’d slow down.
And pretty soon he’d be talking and go ‘Oh! I’m speeding!’ And he was probably doing 50.”
Bill was employed at Stanosheck Hardware, where he worked for many years. His obituary in 1958 states that failing health in recent years had compelled him to abstain from hard physical labor. According to the 1940 and 1950 censuses, he was not working at the time of either.
Although he could not work at a regular job, he continued and enjoyed yard tasks, including caring for the American Legion lawn. He was also an active member ofAmerican Legion Post 326.
Bill died in the Veterans Hospital at Lincoln on Sept. 19, 1958, after a long illness. As noted before, he had been in failing health, and underwent a major operation at the hospital in March of that year. He came home for a short time, but reentered the hospital in August.
Bill Koenig was laid to rest in the Osmond city cemetery. Graveside military services were conducted by American Legion Post 326.
Bill and his wife Zella are buried several rows up from the main entrance, on the right-hand side about halfway down the row.
