James Lawrence Kohnen

Jim was born on August 22, 1940, in Florissant, Missouri. Growing up, he attended Sacred Heart Catholic School and worked as a lifeguard, then pool manager at the Florissant Pool. He went on to attend the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy earning a bachelor of science in civil engineering and the University of Missouri Rolla where he earned a law degree. During his university years, he was a member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity.

Jim began his professional career in 1966, working for the Department of Commerce as a patent attorney in Washington, D.C. Beginning in 1969, he was employed overseas — first with the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland through 1975, then with the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines from 1975 to 1979. These experiences gave him firsthand insight into how Americans living abroad often felt disenfranchised from the American political scene. He returned to the U.S. in 1979 to work as an international trade specialist, attorney, and business consultant in the Washington, D.C. area. Outside of his business, he was appointed by Republicans Abroad as an information director helping overseas Americans get state and local election packets — information which was much harder to come by abroad back then. From 1984 to 2000, Jim was the owner and sole proprietor of Nordic Monitoring (NMS), a consulting firm that served as a joint marketing and financing vehicle for Scandinavian and Finnish companies with international organizations and development banks worldwide. He retired from NMS in 2000.

In 1994, Jim suffered a brain aneurysm, undergoing rehabilitation to walk, speak and maintain his cognition, and he persevered against the odds. Deeply influenced by his Catholic upbringing, he took an interest in the church for most of his adult life, especially after falling ill. As a music aficionado, Jim loved to play the keyboard, sing, and strum his guitar, with a particular fondness for 40s and 50s pop crooners and Elvis Presley. Beyond music, he appreciated clowns, amassing a dramatic collection that numbered in the hundreds. Jim also had a distinct sweet tooth, favoring cookies, butter pecan ice cream and the occasional frozen piña colada.

Jim is survived by his children, Marc Kohnen and Sonya Kohnen, and their mother Suzanne Christoffersen; his grandchildren, Nikolas Kohnen, Madilynn Kohnen, and Marc Kohnen Junior; and his siblings, Norman (Connie) Kohnen, Ronald Kohnen, Lawrence Kohnen, Carolyn "Kelly" (Dean) Nelson, and Carl (Mary Ellen) Kohnen. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Stella Blatz Kohnen and Clarence H. Kohnen; and his brother, Martin Kohnen. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Shepherds Center of Northern Virginia or St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, both charities Jim supported.