Larry Franklin Koenig

Larry Franklin Koenig was born on December 26, 1948 in Mathis, Texas to Franklin and Maxine (Osterloh) Koenig. He passed away on July 16, 2011 at the age of 62 after an 8-month battle with cancer. He was a member of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Orange Grove, Texas, where he was both baptized and confirmed. He spent the first 18 years of his life in this small town that he loved, graduating as valedictorian of Orange Grove High School in 1967. In addition to his academic skills, Larry was an accomplished musician, chairing in the TMEA State Band on the trumpet during both his junior and senior years. After high school graduation, Larry continued his music career in the Longhorn Band at The University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in accounting, graduating in 1971. Larry’s professional career was spent working for the State of Texas, including the Comptroller’s Office and the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, where he became a legend in the audit offices of those agencies for his dedication to excellence in his work and fairness to taxpayers. Most of his working life was spent in Austin, where his son, Kurt Orin Koenig, was born in 1987 when he was married to Suzanne Sandifer Burdsall. Upon retiring from the Comptroller’s office in 2006, Larry established a consulting practice that specialized in assisting taxpayers with their dealings with the state taxing authorities. He also purchased a lake property in Carmel Hills in south Texas to allow him to spend more time fresh-water fishing, which was a passion for him. Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Franklin and Maxine Koenig, his maternal and paternal grandparents, Max and Erna Osterloh and Frank and Hilda Koenig, and his aunt, Merline Koenig Dahse. He is survived by his son, Sergeant Kurt Orin Koenig and wife, Sergeant Aja Koenig, currently stationed in Germany, his sister, Cheryl Koenig-Moore and brother-in-law, Pat Moore and nephews Austin and Carson Moore, his uncle and aunt Roy and Joyce Osterloh, his uncle, Henry Dahse, his former wife, Suzanne and her daughter, Joanne Burdsall, and many cousins and friends. One of the most phenomenal things about Larry was his amazing memory for numbers and facts, in particular Longhorn sports statistics and other people’s birthdays and anniversaries. You could ask Larry any Texas vs. Oklahoma football score for the past 40 years and not only could he remember exactly what it was, he could probably tell you who both of the quarterbacks were and who scored the winning touchdown. Larry ran a college football pool for years and dazzled all of those in the pool with little known facts about even the smallest and most obscure Division I teams. He was known also for his ability to remember birthdays of not only his immediate family, but also aunts and uncles and cousins, often surprising them on their special day with a birthday phone call. Larry left this earth far too soon for all of us that are left behind to mourn him, but if God happens to be partial to the Burnt Orange, He now has a reliable and accessible source for all the UT sports information He would ever need to know. The family would like to thank the many wonderful people at Hospice-Austin, Christopher House, and The Summit at Westlake Hills who gave their all to care for Larry at the end of his life. In lieu of flowers, they would like to suggest a donation to Hospice-Austin (1-800-445-3261) so that others can continue to be cared for in their special way. Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock in the evening until eight o’clock in the evening on Thursday, the 21th of July at Cook Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX. Funeral services will be conducted at eleven o’clock in the morning on Friday, the 22th of July in the Colonial Chapel of Cook Walden Funeral Home, with Rev. Earle Lewis officiating. Interment will be at eleven o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 23rd of July at Hermann Sons Cemetery in Orange Grove, TX. Condolences may be made to www.Cookwaldenfuneralhome.com