Ouachita-Richland County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....COENEN, THEO J. III April 24, 2011
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Gina Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006026 April 28, 2011, 3:59 am

News Star World - April 26, 2011
THEO J. III COENEN

On Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011, Theo J. Coenen, III, a prominent Rayville 
attorney and counselor, died at home.

He was preceded in death by his mother Sadie Ruth Buckner and father T.J. 
Coenen, Jr.

He is survived by his loving wife, Frances Mills Coenen in their fiftieth year 
of marriage, five children, Theodore J. Coenen, IV, Anita Kyle Bourgoyne, 
Christian Morrow Coenen, Debra Caroline Coenen and Bradford Buckner Coenen; 
thirteen grandchildren, Rebekah Coenen, Celine Coenen, Daniel Coenen, 
Madeleine Coenen, Emily Coenen, Marianne Coenen, Lauren Coenen, Sarah Coenen, 
Kirsten Thames, Mason Coenen, Mills Coenen, Brennan Shelton, Jackson Shelton 
and Merrit Coenen; a sister, Sadie Jo Hill; and numerous cousins and nephews.

A burial mass will held at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rayville, 
Louisiana at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday April 27, 2011 with a wake held Tuesday 
night between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on April 26, 2011 at the gymnasium of 
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rayville, Louisiana.

Pallbearers will be Albert Kyle Mills, III, Clifton Mills, Jason Bruyninckx, 
Kyle Bruyninckx, Will Coenen, Luke Coenen, Jay Gilley and Randy Gilley. 
Honorary pall bearers will be Robert Calvert, Sellers Aycock, Emmitt Brown, 
Jr., Timmie Thames, Phillip Branch, Dr. David Thompson, Dr. Allen Spires, Dr. 
Lester Johnson , J. L. Cook, Emmitt Cobb and Joseph Bruyninckx.

Theo will be missed as a father, husband, confidant, counselor, lay church 
leader, friend, leader, community organizer, benefactor. Theo was a longtime 
civic leader and public servant, who freely and selflessly gave of his time, 
talents and abilities to serve his fellowman for the betterment of his 
community and society. Though unelected to any public office, he freely served 
and devoted time to the organization, resolution and completion of public and 
private projects throughout the community and region. He served with a dogged 
commitment to the success and betterment of society and his part of the world 
for all of her citizens with a love and compassion for all.

Theo was a lifelong involved and contributing lay leader of the Sacred Heart 
Catholic Church of Rayville, Louisiana. He served as an alter boy, choir 
member, lay minister, and member of the Sacred Heart men's club group. He 
served the church as a member of the Board of Trustees and was instrumental in 
the planning and building of Flynn Hall. He spearheaded the annual Sacred 
Heart Men's Club Bar-B-Que Chicken fundraiser, Pope John Paul II appointed 
Theo J. Coenen III a Knight in the Order of Saint Gregory for the Shreveport 
Diocese of the Catholic Church.

At age thirteen, Theo earned the coveted Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout 
award and embraced the principles of character and service to community and 
society instilled by that great organization. He began a long life of service 
as president of the Key Club at Rayville High School. After finishing law 
school and returning to Rayville, Louisiana, he served as Scoutmaster of Boy 
Scout Troop 43. He served as President of the NLU Alumni Association and 
played a significant role in the planning and construction of the Anna Gray 
Noe Alumni Center. He was an organizer and President of Riverfield Day, an 
initial organizer of the Southern Picking and Ginning Festival, and an 
organizer and president of the Original Rhymes Restoration Library Society.

In 1964, Theo returned to Rayville, Louisiana to join his father's law 
practice. He became the attorney for the Tensas Levee Board in 1965 and served 
in that capacity until 2009. He served as president of the Fifth District Bar 
Association. He provided legal assistance, counseling and advice to clients 
throughout northeast Louisiana. He was loved and respected for his genuine 
concern and wise advice by a devoted legal clientele throughout his long 
career. He championed the cause of the downtrodden, the persecuted and the 
necessitous.

Theo was a doer; a vigorous advocate of every adopted cause. He lived the 
principle that "a job worth doing was worth doing well." He loved to plan, 
organize, supervise and manage a project whether large or small, at home or 
for the community. He abhorred wasted time, unproductive activity and 
uncompleted projects.

This loving father, devoted civic servant, legal counselor and contributor to 
the community will be greatly missed. The passing of his life will create a 
void of influence and direction for many within the sphere of his influence. 
He would not want great sorrow or pause over his departure. He would expect us 
to carry on with an adopted tenet of his life set forth by the admonition of 
President Kennedy to "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you 
can do for your country." He lived his life with a devotion and adoration to 
God with a firm hope in the resurrection and eternal life.

Brown-Holley Funeral Home

Rayville, LA.



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