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Aileen Koehler
She was born December 6, 1915, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to John Eugene and Edna Emma (nee Carpenter) Poole, and, six months later, made her first trip to Mackinac Island, where her grandparents owned and operated the Iroquois Hotel. Through high school, she visited the Island every summer with her brother, John Bayard Poole, and her two first cousins, Jean Alicia Seeley Deer and Dana Poole Seeley, in the care of her grandmother, Mrs. S. B.. Poole, and her aunt, Alicia "Pete" Poole. Mrs. Koehler was graduated from high school at Dearborn in 1933, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1939, a Master of Arts degree from Ohio University in 1943, and her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1954. She became a school psychologist in the Alameda, California, school system before joining the faculty at California State University- Long Beach. In the following 15 years at the university, she became a full professor, department chairperson, member of the Academic Senate, and was the Associate Dean of the College of Education when she retired in 1974. At the age of 59, she married Lawrence "Larry" Koehler April 7, 1974, a friend since they met in 1953. In 1978 the Koehlers purchased the Sherman cottage on the West Bluff, which burned to the ground during refurbishing. In partnership with her brother, John, they purchased the Roy cottage, Edgecliff, a 100-yearold Victorian home on the West Bluff. For the next 12 years, the Koehlers spent six months a year in California and six months on Mackinac Island, where they became members of The Little Stone Church, The Mackinac Island Yacht Club, and Wawashkamo Golf Club. Mrs. Koehler served as the first president of the Friends of the Mackinac Island Medical Center, for five years was Moderator of The Little Stone Church, and organized the development of the Wawashkamo Restoration and Preservation Fund. As the founding president of the Fund, she spearheaded restoration of the deteriorated buildings at Wawashkamo, a registered historic site. In 1994, the Koehlers' contributions were recognized by making them the only living honorary members of Wawashkamo Golf Club. Her husband and brother preceded Mrs. Koehler in death. A memorial tribute was celebrated at The Little Stone Church Sunday, August 20, with The Reverend Vincent Carroll officiating, followed by a reception at the Selma Dufina home, with a eulogy by her longtime friend and caretaker, Alain Roy.
Memorials can be made to The Little Stone Church, The Mackinac Island Medical Center, or Wawashkamo Golf Club. |
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