Rev. Paul Frederick Koelln, 66, of De Leon, Texas, was born on March 11, 1953 to Theodore and Geneva Koelln, in Littleton, New Hampshire. He died November 30, 2019 at Harris Methodist Hospital in Ft Worth, Texas. Although Paul sustained a brain injury in 2002 and was wheelchair bound, he was in good health until (on Thanksgiving Day) he experienced a cluster of complications which involved choking on food, a seizure and heart failure. Emergency services were summoned. Unfortunately, lack of oxygen damaged his brain beyond repair. He was taken by ambulance first to Comanche County Hospital, and then to Harris Methodist. He died peacefully after his respirator was removed.

Paul graduated from Wolfeboro, NH High School in 1971, and  Ft. Wayne Bible College in Ft Wayne, IN, in 1975 with a B.S. in Christian Education .  He was a pastor with the Swedish Covenant Church in Beresford, SD, in 1978, The Missionary Church in Milford, NE. in 1979, and the Evangelical Congregational Church in churches across Ohio and Pennsylvania from 1980-2002.

I, his wife, loved him more than words can say. Though our years together were filled with heartaches and trials—especially the last 17 years— I would not trade them for anything. I thank God for bringing Paul into my life with his sense of humor, intelligence, musical abilities, appreciation of my artistic side, and ability to relate /communicate so well. It was an honor to care for him in our home. What I remember about Paul prior to his brain injury was his willingness to reconcile immediately following any of our disagreements, and his ability to make me laugh when I was discouraged. I marveled at his skill in articulating the "Good News"--that God loves each person and longs to redeem them and adopt them as His children. His preaching blessed me, and I admired the way he counseled others through their hard times.

Through th e last 17 years when he could not walk or care for himself, he was rarely discouraged and never expressed self pity. He was blessed with a child-like contentment and spent most of his time doing word searches and underlining the words in magazines. The only thing that caused his tears to flow was his occasional inability to understand why Jesus had to suffer such a horrible death. No matter how many times I explained that Christ deliberately died for our sins because of His great love for human kind, whenever the subject came up he would say, "O why did He have to suffer? I don't know why He had to die!"

No doubt he has reached a fuller understanding by now. In the meantime, I grieve for Paul not only as a wife who's lost her husband, but as a mother who's lost her child. I must remind myself that my loss is Paul's gain. He is no longer confined to a wheelchair, but is whole at last.

Paul was preceded in death by his mother, father and step-father, Bill Gridley, and by his older sister, Linda Wilson.

He is survived by his older brother, Ted (Pat) Koelln, of Florida; his step brother Lee (Ruth) Gridley of New Hampshire; numerous nieces and nephews; Marcia, his wife of 43 years, and their three children: Greg (Dana) Koelln of De Leon, TX; Tim (Amy) Koelln of Commerce, TX, and Jamie Koelln of Abilene. Paul has seven grandchildren, aged 12 to 10 months. From oldest to youngest, they are: Lily, Lucy, Elayne, Xander, James, Jubal, and Sadie.

A memorial service was held in Paul and Marcia's home (132 East Ross Avenue, De Leon) on Sunday, December 15, 2019, at 2:30 p.m. Donations in Paul's honor may be made to Samaritan's Purse at PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607.