O’Brien County, Iowa — Longtime O’Brien County Emergency Management Agency Director Anne Koontz will be laid to rest Friday, following her sudden death earlier this week.
Koontz, who lived in Sanborn, had served as County EMA Director since 1984, when she replaced John Redinius as head of that agency. In addition to being County EMA Director, she had served as a Volunteer EMT with the Sanborn Ambulance Team in past years, as well as serving on multiple committees, boards and task forces, including the O’Brien County EMS Task Force, which has met over the past couple of years in an attempt to find solutions to staffing problems being encountered by the county’s local ambulance services. During her tenure she also taught emergency management classes for Northwest Iowa Community College and also at the county, state and federal levels.
Before becoming O’Brien County EMA Director, Anne served as Executive Director for Sioux-Lakes Emergency Medical Services, a position she held from 1979 until her appointment as O’Brien County Emergency Management Director in April, 1984.
Having been EMA Director for more than 30 years, Anne was instrumental in helping EMA Directors in neighboring counties get up to speed when they assumed the Director roll in their counties, and O’Brien County Sheriff Michael Anderson says those Directors have all stepped forward to offer assistance in continuing the projects that Anne had in progress at the time of her death, until a successor can be found. Anderson tells KIWA that a representative of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security has even stepped forward to offer any assistance that may be necessary.
Anne passed away Monday morning at her home in Sanborn. Her funeral service will be at 10:30 am on Friday, at First Presbyterian Church in Sanborn, with burial at East Lawn Cemetery in Sheldon, Iowa. A full obituary is available by clicking here.
