Barbara Koenig, MD

KOENIG, Barbara, MD
Of Portage Barbara V. Morris Koenig MD, FACS age 64, of Portage, passed away May 26, 2010, at her home with Hebrews 11:1-3. Barbara was born June 5, 1945 in Council Bluffs, Iowa the daughter of Ralph and Virginia Hammer Morris, and later attended Thomas Jefferson High School. Marrying her high school sweet heart in 1968, they cherished the birth of their son, Benjamin Peter on May 18, 1978. She attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, graduating with a BA, cum laude in Biology. Furthering that interest, she received an MS in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from Purdue University. Receiving her medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1973 commenced a number of dedicated years to post graduate medical training with an Internship, General Surgery Residency, and later a Fellowship in Trauma Surgery/Critical Care at St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach, California. She was a career physician for thirty-one years as a general surgeon and a trauma surgeon/surgical critical care intensivist the last nineteen. Barbara held a number of attending trauma staff positions, director of a critical care unit, and a trauma director at two medical centers. She was certified and re-certified by the American Board of Surgery, American Board of Surgery in Surgical Critical Care, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, an Advanced Trauma Life Support-Instructor as well as one in the Fundamentals of Critical Care Support. Dr. Koenig held academic appointments as a Clinical Instructor at the University of California;
Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina; and served as Surgical Teaching Faculty at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. Barbara was active in professional activities in trauma legislative support to include the
Quality Assurance Subcommittee of the Trauma Hospital Advisory Committee THAC in Los Angeles, California; a Trauma Surgical Representative for the San Fernando Region, THAC, Los Angeles, CA; and served as a Surgical Representative East Region EMS/Trauma Care Council as well as on the Governor's Task Force for Trauma in the State of Washington. She was a member of the American Medical Association, a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and was active in the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma in the States of Washington and Ohio. Needing a stool to reach the operating table early in her career assisting in surgery, the little doctor later in life chaired numerous medical committees in quality assurance, trauma surgery, surgical critical care, surgery advisory panels, bioethics, and nutrition. She received the Society of Critical Care Medicine President's Citation as well as the Mayor's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Spokane's Sister City Program for organizing medical relief to Kobe, Japan. In March of 2009, she was inducted into Thomas Jefferson's H.S.Hall of Fame. Throughout her life, she was motivated by the concept of 'becoming' or growing in knowledge and skills in other areas of her life. Barbara was an accomplished water color artist, photographer, and was well on her way to mastering the alto sax. The doctor was an avid fan of outdoor activities, which took her sailing, fishing, canoeing, hiking, and camping throughout the country and abroad. A recognized and experienced trauma and surgical critical care director, she brought her medical skills, program development perspective, and critical patient care leadership to exacting the full potential of trauma service delivery throughout her career. Focused on capability, capacity, commitment, and with her compassion involved all of the health care team along the continuum from incident in the field, the golden hour transport through trauma surgery, critical/acute care, rehabilitation, and recovery a trauma triumph. With a high level of professional dedication and expectation, she worked toward successful outcomes for her patients. Caring for patients and their families during crisis was truly her most important measure of success when asked. She is survived by her father, Ralph Morris, of Council Bluffs, IA; son Benjamin and wife Holly Koenig and grandson Evan Rainer Koenig of Suttons Bay, MI; maternal aunts, Irene Hammer of Council Bluffs and Mary Flury of Gainesville, GA; brother, Richard and wife Joyce Morris of Trinity FL; sister, Ev Koenig and Gary Owens of Omaha, NE; cousins and nieces; friends that know they were family; and husband, Bernard L. Koenig II of Portage, MI. The family is grateful for Jeffrey Coppinger MD, his nurse April, Hospice of Southwest Michigan's Carol Naugle, and Ellen Lussier in their continued care, love, and dedication to her needs throughout her extended illness of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and her passing. There will be neither visitation nor funeral as Barbara had requested. A memorial to Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan is respectfully requested. Arrangements by Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Portage Chapel, 411 E. Centre Ave. Please visit www.langelands.com to sign, view or print Barbara's online guestbook or leave a condolence to the family.