Known by those who loved him as “Koonie,” Granddad, Dad, and Friend. Lawrence Delwin Koonsman was born on December 9th, 1932, in Erath County, Texas (Near Stephenville). He went home to Jesus on August 15th, 2022, from Willow Park TX at the age of 89.

Koonie was the only child of Lawrence H. and Mary Orena (Ripley) Koonsman and grew up surrounded by a large, loving extended family of aunts, uncles and many cousins.

Koonie entered the U.S. Army in December of 1952. He proudly served his country as a member of the 6th Armored Division during the Korean War where he earned the Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the National Defense Medal. He transferred to the National Guard Reserve Nov 19, 1954, where he served until Nov 30th 1960, and received his honorable discharge.

One of the best decisions he ever made in life was to marry Loree Nadine Parnell, the prettiest girl in Texas. They were married on Dec 2, 1955. He and Nadine moved from Texas to California for a brief time before coming back and settling down in Ft. Worth and then later in Weatherford TX. Son Kenneth was born in 1957, son Rick in 1958, and daughter Susan in 1972. Koonie and Nadine lived in the Weatherford area for 58 years.

He supported his family as a machinist for General Dynamics for many years where he engaged in building the F-16 for the United States Air Force. After retiring Koonie enjoyed tinkering in the garage on his Model A Ford. He also owned Koonie’s Auto Sales in Weatherford, where he bought and sold a lot of good cars. He really loved buying and selling stuff. All kinds of stuff. He would buy anything he thought he could make a little money on. But even more than buying and selling, he enjoyed helping people. He was known to be a generous man to people in need.

Later in life he developed quite a reputation for playing practical jokes on people. He was recently featured in the Parker County Today Magazine and the Weatherford Democrat as the “Prank King” of Clear Fork Assisted Living Center. He was a fun man to be around but you had to watch out for the fake spiders. Koonie will be missed by his Clear Fork family as well as the family he and Nadine built together.

Koonie is survived by his wife of 67 years Nadine, son Kenneth and wife Shannon, son Rick and fiancée Darlene, daughter Susan and husband Tom. Also survived by granddaughter Amy and husband Cooper, grandson Kelvin and wife Tracey, granddaughter Rachel and husband Chad, granddaughter Destiny and husband TJ, granddaughter Bailee and grandson Braden. He was blessed with great grandchildren, Cooper, Kyle, Colton, and Delilah.