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Promoted to Glory
Colonel Henry Koerner was peacefully promoted to Glory on March 7, 2004 from his nursing home in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Born to Pacific Coast pioneer officer parents—Brigadiers Jacob and Edith Koerner—in Alameda, Calif. on Oct. 6, 1908, Henry Hammond Koerner traveled with his family, including four sisters, to appointments in the (now) Western, Central and Eastern Territories.
Henry entered training in 1928 from the San Francisco #1 Corps and was commissioned in 1929 as a pro/lieutenant. After his first posting to the Raymond, Wash. Corps, Henry served in other appointments in the Northwest. He then became men’s side officer at the Training College, followed by several years in the finance departments of the Border Division (Southwest), Oregon and territorial headquarters (THQ).
In 1939 he married Lieutenant Marie Lorenzen and they were appointed to lead the youth work in the Oregon and Southern Idaho Division.
After serving in different finance departments, the Koerners were sent to Hawaii where Henry was appointed as both divisional secretary and young people’s secretary. They were there for the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Henry and Marie were heavily involved with the Army’s assistance to military personnel. Henry served as USO director in San Francisco and in 1947 he was appointed to the International College for Officers in London.
Henry served in Portland (divisional youth secretary), THQ (service extension), Los Angeles (divisional secretary), and again at THQ as the territorial youth secretary.
After serving as divisional commander of the Southwest Division, Henry again returned to THQ as the territorial finance secretary, preceding a similar appointment in the Central Territory.
Before his retirement Colonel Koerner served as chief secretary in first the Western, then the Central Territory. After 44-plus years as an active officer, he retired in 1973.
In retirement, Henry served for ten years as the advisory board financial and development consultant in the then Northern California and Nevada Division. During this time Henry represented The Salvation Army in the San Francisco Kiwanis Club. The Koerners were faithful soldiers of the San Francisco Citadel Corps for 25 years before moving to Santa Rosa, where they continued as soldiers.
The Koerners had two daughters: Beth, now Major Beth Saunders, and Margi Koerner Kuckuck. Also surviving are three grandsons, including Captain Brian Saunders, a granddaughter and four great-grandsons.
A memorial service was held at the Santa Rosa Corps with Commissioner Orval Taylor officiating.
Cards may be sent to: Colonel Marie Koerner, 300 Fountaingrove Parkway, Healthcare Center, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; Major Beth Saunders, 541 Tarrant Ct., Roseville, CA 95747; Captain Brian Saunders, 5 Crestmont Lane, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275.