Viola Mae Hughes Koehler, 91, a lifetime resident of Pensacola and Pace, Fla., passed away at 2:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 due to complications from congestive heart failure.
She was at West Florida Hospital in the Covenant Hospice unit. Being in Covenant enabled her and her five generations of children and grandchildren to say their goodbyes. She was surrounded by her daughters as she let go of this life, and her spiritual presence was literally felt as it moved across and left the room.
Vi, as she was known by so many, was born in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Nov. 3, 1923 to Charles Maxon “Pop” Hughes and Mae Beatrice Slater Hughes. “Pop” and Mae had one other older child, a son named Charles Thomas Hughes. Shortly before “Pop” Hughes and the children left the 10,000 Islands area of south Florida he and Mae Slater Hughes mutually agreed to dissolve their marriage.
“Pop” Hughes was a fisherman by trade. He and his two children made their way north through the Everglades, up the west coast of Florida, across the Gulf of Mexico via the Florida panhandle, and settled in the small fishing town of Perdido Beach. At this time, Viola Hughes Koehler was 11 years old. She was educated in a one-room schoolhouse.
Maude Lewis was hired to watch the children while Mr. Hughes fished. Eventually, they married and had another son. Of their children, Viola Hughes Koehler was the last surviving child.
Preceding her in death were her brothers, Charles T. Hughes, Harold Maxon (Mackey) Hughes, Eugene (Junior) Lewis, R.C. Lewis, Clifford Lewis and Francis Lewis; and her sisters, Imogene Krantz, Maisie Krantz, Willodean (Billie) Parker, Pearl Templeman, Floy Howe and Ethel Parker.
Viola M. Hughes married Warren Charles Koehler of Elberta. Viola, and Warren, who preceded Vi in death, are survived by their children, Linda Koehler Martineau and her husband John Martineau of Robertsdale, Kathy J. Davis of Pensacola, Carole D. Koehler and her spouse Samantha R. Stewart of Pensacola and Connie F. Koehler of Pensacola. Viola Hughes Koehler is also survived by two loving granddaughters, Shannon L. Shawver and her spouse Mary Hamrick of Pensacola and Julie A. Himes and her fiancé “Big” Tom Armstrong; five loving great-grandchildren, Stephanie A. Jefferson, Jonathon T. Himes and Brandon S Himes of Robertsdale, Breanna L. Himes, a senior at Troy University, and Mathew Migut of Pensacola; and two wildly fun and crazy great-great-grandchildren, Emma B. Jefferson and Evan S. Jefferson of Robertsdale.
Viola Hughes Koehler was one of a few accountants with the state of Florida who qualified for and was promoted to the accounting position without a four-year degree. She retired in 1988 from the state of Florida.
She loved to travel, kayak, go out to eat, play solitaire, fish, eat just about anything that came out of the water, and do just about anything you could do in the water. Yet, more than anything else, she loved her children, was proud of the women they became, and always encouraged them to be who they were, give all they could, but never to worry about being liked or disliked.
She knew real barriers existed socially and understood that for her “girls” to be who they were, knocks, bumps and genuine pain would be part of their journey.
This is why she so loved the Christmas season. Christmas was the time of year her herd would head home, regardless of where they were — Korea, Washington, D.C., Germany, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Fla. or San Francisco, Calif. She decorated in the most beautiful and tasteful ways. Her homemade cookies and candies accidently became a thriving small business for her, and she managed every detail like a Blue Angel pilot would prepare for takeoff. While you were home with Mom at Christmas, nothing hurt anymore, nothing made one afraid, and the anticipation of the present she bought for you was just as strong at 50 years old as it was at 5.
Viola Hughes Koehler was born into poverty but lived with a quiet dignity. Nothing in her life was easy or was given to her, yet she persevered and continued to rise toward the top. She was no one’s patsy nor did she use her exquisite beauty and sense of style to answer the many offers she got to move ahead in inappropriate ways.
She was a girl’s girl and a mother who gave all she had financially to take care of her children, seldom leaving anything for herself. She left this world a successful woman whose footprint is imbedded in the hearts of those of us who were fortunate enough to be loved by her.
I ask to be with her again … I will place my salvation high upon my list … As I sleep, I want to know should I not awake, my soul and spirit will have found their way safely back to my mother’s loving arms.
The family will receive friends at Wollfe-Bayview Funeral Home in Foley on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, from 9 until 10:30 a.m.
Graveside services will follow at Elberta Public Cemetery at 11 a.m.
Arrangements by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home, Foley.
