John Wayne Koger

John Wayne Koger, 83, passed away on June 15, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was born to Bennie and Ruth Koger on August 20, 1940, in Florence, Alabama. John spent his childhood in Florence and graduated from Coffee High School in 1958.

John received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (1963) and a Master of Science in Metallurgy (1965) from the Georgia Institute of Technology before earning his Doctor of Philosophy (1967) from the University of Florida.

On August 30, 1963, John married Rosemary Hampton of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. They started their life together in Atlanta, moved to Gainesville, Florida, then finally settled in Knoxville, Tennessee with their two children Karen and John, Jr.

John’s career began in 1967 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and he later served as the Department Superintendent of Materials Engineering in the Development Division at the Y-12 Plant from 1978 to 1990. He then acted as the Program Manager of Depleted Uranium Waste Minimization at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant as well as the Weapons Complex Uranium Waste Stream Manager from 1990 to 1993. Starting in 1993, John was a Technical Liaison between the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant and the Office of Technology Transfer (both operated by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems). He took on the role of Program Manager for the DOE-Defense Programs Technology Partnership Program at the Lockheed Y-12 Plant before retiring in March of 2000.

After retirement, John became a consultant to Fluor Daniel-Fernald, Ohio for safe storage, transportation of uranium, and thorium waste material until 2001. He was also a Strategic Planning Technical Consultant for Haselwood Enterprises, Inc. in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He enjoyed teaching courses as an adjunct professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee from 1997 to 2002. John published about 40 publications throughout his career including portions of three books and one patent.

In 1989, John started volunteering as a walking scorer for PGA tournaments. He and Rosemary traveled all over the U.S. and overseas for over 25 years, where he scored or worked the Shotlink fairway laser for more than 150 tournaments. John was the first American to be a walking scorer at the British Open, where he participated 3 times.

In 2008, John and Rosemary moved from Knoxville and split time between homes in Fort Myers, Florida, and Fort Worth, Texas. They enjoyed spending time with grandchildren and avoiding any and all cold weather. John was a devoted husband, solid dad, supportive grandfather, brilliant scientist, avid golfer, and sports fan. He loved his family, baseball, hamburgers, Elvis, Willie Nelson, and beach vacations. He will be very much missed by his family and friends.

John was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Martha Koger Richardson Hampton. John is survived by his wife Rosemary Koger, his children Karen Barker (Dan) and John Koger, Jr. (Jennie), his grandchildren Julia Freesmeyer (Nash), Ashley Campuzano (Abner), Benjamin Koger, Andrew Barker (Whitney), and Jackson Korynta, and great-granddaughter Terrah Rose Koger, along with numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Please consider making a donation in John's honor to: Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County or Georgia Institute of Technology.