This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Bruce "Skip" Koons, 68 years old, born on April 4, 1950, passed away on January 18, 2019.
Skip is survived by his wife, Jo Ann; father, Jack; mother, Jeannine; sister, Lucier; daughter, Laura; grandson, Brandon; as well as numerous extended family and friends.
No funeral services planned at this time. We are making arrangements to take his ashes to Arlington Cemetery Columbarium in Washington DC in May or June 2019.
Skip’s death (Friday January 18, 2019) was sudden & quick in its way.
He had been suffering for over the last 3 months with the persistent cough that differed from the regular smoker’s cough. He was a little stubborn but a real trooper handling the activities of daily living while getting slowly weaker.
We may have had more time to love and communicate and live life a bit more if the cancer had been recognized earlier, in time to treat with chemo torture. He had small cell lung cancer, (plus pneumonia), which can metastasize quickly, but is treatable if found early. However, small cell tends to return within months, to organs such as the brain leading to an undesirable death.
In the ER before admission while struggling for breath he told me “I do not want to be a vegetable” (which incidentally he detested all veggies except green beans).
The back story:
October, November, December 2018 Skip developed a persistent cough different from the regular smoker’s cough (in hind sight an ominous cough). Towards the last few weeks he was having shortness of breath. He was regularly seeing various doctors: Family Practice, endocrinologist for thyroid and diabetes management, vascular surgeon follow-ups for leg stents. In December Skip saw the Ear Nose Throat doctor that performed a laryngoscopy procedure and the biopsy specimen showed no cancer.
Undeterred, the next step was the pulmonologist (lung doc) with delays of cancelled appointments, the bronchoscopy was scheduled for January 17th. He went to Urgent care clinics and received nebulizer treatments, then Monday January 7th went to the ER at 2am. Had another breathing treatment and was sent home at 4am. He kind of rallied for a day or two, but was getting weaker. [with the cough came headaches, neck and back aches, and inability to sleep-major torture]. He dutifully followed all the medical regimen of pills (prednisone, antibiotics, inhalers, and daily pills) with no improvement. Friday January 11th he was having lower extremity swelling, the same day he visited the VA doc who mentioned it to Skip, who then showed me Saturday. He went to Urgent care clinic Sunday January 13th. The Nurse Practitioner sent him to the ER. In major respiratory distress he was admitted to ICU for treatment and monitoring. Monday January 14th, he required intubation (insertion of a breathing tube). Placed on a Propofol drip for sedation, and suctioning of the lung congestion (Pneumonia had developed), he was surviving. By Wednesday January 16th he had the bronchoscopy that brought the diagnosis of small cell cancer. After the bronch procedure he required maximum ventilatory support. Thursday January 17th the propofol drip was suspended but he was not waking up or responding. His kidneys were failing, so dialysis was scheduled for Friday morning January 18th. He did not improve during the night, and lost the gag reflex. Friday morning he was too weak for the dialysis and I was urgently called in at 10am.
The Last Day:
Skip was not breathing on his own, not peeing, not responding, no gag reflex, blood pressure was dropping. At 11am in the hospital room with my sister in law, Charlene, doctor and nurse Angie all was reviewed and discussed. Chaplain Daniel Hicks came in consoled us and said a very nice blessing for a good man. At 11:30 am Skip’s sister Lucy was able to talk in his ear via cell phone for love and good byes. At 11:39 am a bolus of Morphine was given. Then the breathing tube was removed completely by 11:50am. Skip stopped breathing before 12noon, and was in asystole (heart straight-line) quickly. Many tears and hugs.
So that is pulling a “Skippy”, 6 days in ICU, then off to heaven, free of his tortured body.
He was able to donate his corneas to the TN organ donor organization.
To be cremated. We’ll all meet in May or June to take his ashes to Arlington Cemetery Columbarium in Wash DC.Written by Jo Ann Koons
Skip was a good person with a unique sense of humor and I consider myself lucky to have known Skip.
Skip was particularly gifted mechanically and I would often seek Skips help with various projects, such as plumbing, furniture assembly, building a kiosk or anything construction or mechanical in nature, since this is not my strong-point. Skip had a passion for learning and understanding how things work.He did not always rely on instructions and could see a bunch of parts and visualize assemblies and their purpose in the end product.He was never afraid to jump right in and just start putting pieces together.We didn’t always use all the parts and often ended up with something unique at the end of the process that may not have been built as designed but always functional, working and sometimes an upgrade.We built a kiosk together some years ago.For me, this seemed a daunting task with so many parts and assemblies.I started opening boxes, pulling instructions and inventorying parts to try and understand how each piece functions.Skips jumps right in and starts putting things together and just says this is a giant erector set.I just played along and let Skip do his thing.When we were done, we had a setup that was nothing like the picture, but none-the-less, an end product was created that was completely functional and worked just as well as the planned design would have yielded.Not to mention, he probably built it in less than half the time and we had lots of spare parts left over.
Skip was never afraid to push a button and not just Jo Ann’s buttons.One time, Skip was helping us get our new office location setup and came across an obscure button in the backroom.His curiosity took over and he pressed that button wondering what would happen only to find out that button was the silent alarm.Needless to say, we found out the silent alarm worked when the police arrived.
These are just a couple of examples of Skips skills, generosity and friendship.Skip was always willing to help and never expected much in return, except for a good meal or steak on occasion. Skip had some rough edges and we are very different people, but when I got to know him, I learned he was a truly nice person with a good heart along with a brutally honest sense of humor as well as someone who enjoyed the small pleasures in life.I always enjoyed Skips company and I will miss him, but I am glad that I had an opportunity to know him and call him my friend.
Written by Gabe Beck
Skip was my Heart, mi Corazon, me amore
He was my Rock
He was a good man
He was kind & giving
Yet fueled by justice & occasional tantrums.
He was my best friend for 25 years
My Buddy
Gizmo’s Daddy, Laura’s Dad, Brandon’s GrandPa
He had a good and strange sense of humor
He was trainable
And he taught me a lot, but not enough (time) to learn more
He was smart in practical ways, I have the book smarts, and we were a Great Team.
He was inventive and creative
Sometimes lacking with the follow-thru he loved his projects from 3D printers to Bradley car building.
He was fidgety and unfortunately a heavy smoker (of Marlboro’s).
I actually miss his “bugging and irritating” as he called it.
Gizmo does not cry and sob as much as me. Skip’s loving Spirit stays in our hearts Forever.
Written By Jo Ann Koons:
I had so many good times with my Uncle Bruce. I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with him since we had so many miles between us, but the times I got to spend with him were always so fun! My cheeks always hurt from him making me laugh so hard, from his jokes, to his wise cracks, to making funny faces at me. We had a blast in Las Vegas hitting up all the buffets and eating our way through Vegas. Disney World was amazing and out of this world, it truly was a great family vacation where memories were made. And, all our family trips back to Virginia for anniversary parties, family reunions, and so much more – Bruce always made it fun and entertaining for me! I admired how “handy” he was, he was a “Jack-of-all-Trade” always fixing, building, replacing anything and everything. I loved how creative he was from building and rebuilding bikes/trailers/cars to his engraving business. And of course I will never forget his dress of style, I just loved his variety of Hawaiian/flowery shirts (and don't forget the flip flops) - you certainly knew when he walked into a room! He was an awesome Uncle and I’m truly going to miss him.
