Kinfolk notch special times at Koehn [Not Kane] Family Reunion

Toes tapped to country gospel tunes while members of the Koehn [Not Kane] family dined on breakfast pizza, rolls, fresh fruit, coffee and juice during early June in downtown Salina, Kansas.

By Tim Unruh

Toes tapped to country gospel tunes while members of the Koehn [Not Kane] family dined on breakfast pizza, rolls, fresh fruit, coffee and juice during early June in downtown Salina, Kansas.

Music from Jill Riley Fletcher and Stan Fletcher wafted through The Sullivan at United Capital Plaza just downstairs from Chad Koehn’s United Capital Management firm.

“This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long,” the couple harmonized.

The audience of more than 30 responded with applause, while toddlers to senior citizens enjoyed a cool morning in north-central Kansas.

Pastor Ryan Ausmus of First Presbyterian Church at Dodge City — Chad’s cousin and the oldest grandson of Myron Koehn — wrapped up the event with a sermon, quoting verses from a thick New American Standard Bible resting on a podium before him.

One towheaded tyke, Lincoln Ausmus, 3, listened in from just a few feet away. He’s the pastor’s nephew, and son of Caleb and Mandy Ausmus, of Olathe.

“This isn’t my first rodeo,” the pastor quipped.

He is the only clergy in the 209-member Josephine Koehn family based in Montezuma, southwest Kansas, the late great-grandmother to the Ausmus boys and Chad Koehn.

The pastor shared “an old-school message in this day and age, preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the humanity of Christ. (Jesus) was a man, but not a mere human being. He was literally God in the flesh. God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am …’ ”

The worship service was on the heels of a family reunion that brought some 115 descendants of the Koehn clan from all over Middle America to Chad’s Koehn Family Ranch in eastern Saline County.

Jim Howard, owner-operator of Howard Wagyu, provided the barbecue. He is the husband of Ashley Howard, marketing director at UCM, who organized and presided over the Sunday concert.

The weekend was a celebration of family. Early Koehns migrated to Kansas in the late 19th century to homestead the land to farm and ranch on the Great Plains.

The Fletchers enjoy a similar background. They grew up in Gruver, a town on the northern limits of the Texas panhandle, cattle ranchers who prospered by their work ethic.

But the dynamic was complex, Jill said, with a few “hot heads” in the group that was not above having a fight at a funeral.

She shared songs and stories in an hourlong concert from a 12-song story album, dubbed Common Ground “chronicling four generations of her wild and wonderful Texas cattle ranching family,” according to promotional materials.

The Koehn were “remarkably close,” Chad said, but with much less musical acumen. The Fletchers filled the void nicely, he said, but admitted he first called Alan Jackson, who was booked up for the weekend.

Chad spent some time at the microphone, sharing memories growing up on the Koehn spread near Montezuma.

“Thank-you for allowing us to gather over the last few days as a family,” said Pastor Ausmus, who is still often referred to as “Moose.” The nickname was given to him at age 7 as a baseball player. It stuck with him as a member of the Dodge City High School Red Demon football team as a tight end (Class of 1991); later as an offensive lineman for Dodge City Community College Conquistadors and Panhandle State University Aggies.