Forever Love: George & Diana Koontz
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By Emily Bontrager
The second Valentine Sweetheart couple this year is George and Diana Koontz. Let’s look back at their life together and how they met while chaperoning on a double date.
George Koontz was born on December 4, 1948 in Ottumwa, IA. He is the only child of William Lawrence and Eleanor Koontz, who were from Scotland County.
At first, George attended school in a one room schoolhouse outside of Memphis. The schoolhouse was called North Liberty. He then attended Memphis High School and graduated in 1966.
After high school, George attended Northeast Missouri College in Kirksville, which is now known as Truman State University. In 1970, he graduated with a bachelor’s in industrial arts.
Diana Smith was born on January 1, 1949 in Kirksville, MO. She is the only child of Thomas Vasser and Vera Smith. Vera later married Robert Smith, who was from Lee County.
Diana started elementary school in Farmington, IA. She then attended school in Argyle and then went to Donnellson. She ended up going to West Burlington and New London schools and eventually graduated from Central Lee High School in 1967.
“I went to Keokuk Community College for two years and Parson’s College for two years and that is where I graduated,” Diana said.
Diana graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1971.
The first time George and Diana met was when they were told they needed to be the chaperones on a double date.
“He was a friend of my cousin, who was spending the summer from Texas with her grandparents up here,” Diana said.
“The grandparents were knitting their eyebrows together and they decided she needed a chaperone, so they arranged a double date. We were the double.”
Diana and George and her cousin, Mary Ruth, and her date went to the drive-in theater at Memphis, MO.
“We went to the drive-in movie and we ended up in a bean field,” Diana said.
“We went and checked the crops. I don’t know what else was going on in the car, but we didn’t take the chaperoning very seriously.”
After the double date, the two were still not dating. They both ended up leaving to go to college after the summer had ended.
“He went off to Kirksville and I went to Keokuk after that because my cousin went back to Texas,” Diana said.
A few years later, Mary Ruth came up to the area to visit and George asked her what Diana was up to.
“She said I was living in Keokuk,” Diana recalled.
George ended up going over to visit with Diana in Keokuk and in 1972, they started dating.
Over the years, George and Diana loved to go to the races together. George even raced cars on circle tracks. Eventually, the two were engaged and Diana picked out a ring from a jewelry store over in Keokuk. The two were engaged for about a year before they decided to get married.
On September 30, 1978, Diana and George were married at the Memphis United Methodist Church. Pastor Elmer Revelle officiated the wedding and there were around 80 people in attendance.
Diana’s maid of honor was Mary Ruth and George’s best man was Lynn Riney.
The reception was held in the church basement and Diana’s grandmother made their wedding cake.
Diana and George drove a race car after their ceremony around Memphis and the Memphis Square.
“Our chase car was a race car with 77 on it. They raced the car the night before and they broke a water pump,” Diana said.
Most of the wedding party stayed up and fixed the car so it would be ready for the wedding on Saturday.
“They built me a seat, so I could sit in the race car,” Diana recalled.
After they were married, the couple traveled to Kansas City for their honeymoon.
“We spent a lot of time at Worlds of Fun,” George said.
After marrying, George and Diana first moved to their farm outside of Memphis.
At first, George worked odd jobs after college. For a year, he taught power mechanics at the Keokuk High School, but he decided that teaching was not what he wanted to do.
“I wound up working in Milton for Mid- States for a year and then I wound up at Pepsi,” George said.
He worked at Pepsi Cola Memphis Bottling Company for 42 years in the advertising and marketing department and this is where he retired.
Diana taught and substituted off and on for ten years in Wyaconda, Luray, and Keokuk.
“I got into health care later in my working life,” Diana said.
“Primarily, I worked in Memphis at Aldridge’s when they had a care center. I was a CNA.”
George and Diana are both 75 years old and they live outside of Memphis, MO. Diana had two children, Leora and Rob Scott before the couple were married. George and Diana have a son, Kevin. The couple have four grandkids and one great grandkid.
Diana and George have had a great life together and have loved the discussions that they have had over the years. They will celebrate their 46th anniversary this year.
George and Diana have some advice they would like to pass along to young couples who are thinking about getting married.
“Be patient,” George said.
“Hang in there, it gets better,” Diana added.
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