Ward Lee Koehler

Ward Lee Koehler, 91, of El Paso, Texas, and formerly of Woodstock, died March 22, 2018.

He graduated from Woodstock High School, where he was a band member. He graduated from Illinois College Phi Beta Kappa, and the University of Michigan Law School. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, where he participated in the liberation of the Philippines and was awarded two Bronze Stars.

Judge Koehler was an attorney in El Paso before being elected judge of the 168th District Court and justice on the 8th District Court of Appeals. He received many honors, including the El Paso Bar Association’s Outstanding Jurist and Outstanding Senior Lawyer awards. He was active in the Republican Party and served as the El Paso County chairman of the party and on the state executive committee. He was proud to be the only Republican in the history of El Paso County to be elected to the judicial positions because of the many Democrats who supported his campaigns.

He was an avid outdoorsman and Scout leader and was district chairman of the Yucca Council of Boy Scouts. He was a deacon and elder in the First Presbyterian Church and active member of Rotary Club, Optimist Club, El Paso Historical Society, and Sun Carnival Association.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathryn (Kopy) Koehler, and three brothers, Richard, Forbes and Don.

He is survived by three sons Paul (Julie), Tom (Carol), and Bruce (Lee Ann); a daughter, Christine (Victor) Servin; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Robert, and a  sister-in-law, Jane, of Woodstock.

Services were held in El Paso on March 30.