James Edward Koepke

James was born in St. Paul, MN on August 1, 1941. His parents were John Albert Koepke and Alice Dubois. He was married to Merge Koepke for 29 years.

James joined the US Navy in 1961 and retired after 20 years of service. During his years in the Navy, he was deployed to Vietnam where he spent 2 years working in food service. His main job was providing cooked food to the Vietnamese orphans.

James worked in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi military as Food Service Supervisor. He was in charge of opening mess halls for the Saudi military.

He met his wife, Merge Koepke, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who was working as a physician at Al Hammadi Hospital.

James and Merge relocated to the United States in 1989. James bought a landscaping business in San Diego which he owned until 1994. They relocated to Rochester, MN, where Merge started her career in corrections with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. James worked as a limousine driver for Duane Wilson's company. He drove famous celebrities like King Hussein of Jordan, Barbara Bush, etc. They relocated to Las Vegas in 2002.

James loved cooking and listening to Johnny Cash music. He loves dogs and driving.

He is survived by his wife, Merge; his sisters, Gerri, Joleen, and Jeannie, and brother, Jack; his sons, Bill and Johnny; his daughters, Linda and Lisa; his grandchildren, Jacob, Cameron, Kyler, Kayla, Andrew, and Jordan; his step-son, John Paul and his beloved pets, Chynna and Snowflake.

Funeral service will be held from 10:00 am through 4:00 pm on February 18, 2017 at Palms Eastern Mortuary. A Vigil service will be held at 12:00 noon. Burial will be held on February 28, 2017, Tuesday at 8:40 am at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial cemetery in Boulder City, NV.