Deborah Anne & Gaylen Curtis Koons

Deborah Anne Koons

Born Deborah Anne Glaser on February 8, 1955, in Emporia, Kansas, our Deb bid her final goodbye to the Yellow Brick Road on July 30, 2024.

As a child Deb was once labeled as feral by her sister because she spent so much time away from home on the hunt for inventive mischief and spontaneous adventures with friends.  She created several cottage industries that included making no-cook mulberry jam (yep! that would be sugar, tap water and floating fruit in a jar) and later perfectly baked pound cakes which she set out to peddle door to door.  The jam proved not to be a big seller, but the cake business was quite successful until her mother ran the numbers and shut the whole thing down after determining that the cost of ingredients well surpassed the sales price.

Having discovered that the world of commerce held scant promise for her future, Deb was delighted to find that she had a remarkable talent for playing the piano.  Her sheet music library would come to include hits by all the classical geniuses, favorite contemporary singer songwriters, Broadway musicals and even Dr. Seuss – all of which she mastered with relative ease.

Her daily piano practice sessions became the background music for dinner prep times that filled the house with exotic melodious spices and the very essences of love and joy that otherwise were liable to go missing from her childhood home.

At one point, Deb’s mother Mary signed her up for summer band in an attempt to keep her busy and out of trouble.  Deb quickly tired of that experiment and realized she had no love for the clarinet.  After that, it was simply a matter of talking a friend into skipping class with her and hanging out at the laundromat nearby.  There the girls delighted in reading magazines and sampling the various delicacies offered in the vending machines.  When Mary ultimately caught on to what was going on, she proclaimed that the jig was up.  Deb, however, ended that sorry chapter in her life for good by declaring, “You were the one who always wanted to be in a marching band – not me!”

Deb did attend and graduate from both Emporia High School and the University of Kansas where she majored in General Studies…and partying.

Making friends and having a good time always came naturally for Deb and she and her husband Gaylen spent many happy weekends during their 43 years of marriage together haunting thrift stores, second-hand shops, garage sales and flea markets where they discovered quirky treasures to bring home.  They both enjoyed filling their house in Lawrence with collections and oddities that never failed to surprise and engage visitors.

One neighbor aptly noted that Deb was a rambler at heart.  She was always up for a road trip or faraway adventure.  To that end, Deb was pleased to be able to make one final trip to Wyoming with her sister and her cat Cheyenne in November.  When Gaylen’s dementia began to emerge in earnest, Deb put her own wanderlust aside and cared for him at home.  After more than five years, he ultimately reached a point where he was no longer safe there but she visited him regularly at Bridge Haven until her own health declined to a point where she herself became house-bound.

Deb reluctantly leaves behind too many great friends to adequately list by name; but anyone counted among that treasured cohort surely recognizes that they were lovingly embraced within the bright circle of her love.  Another dear friend always referred to her as a lamplighter since Deb’s unwavering generosity and sparkling curiosity created a wonderful kind of luminescence that she so liberally showered on those around her.

She was preceded in death by her husband Gaylen Koons, parents Don and Mary Glaser, stepson Scott Koons, all her grandparents, special friends Stuart and Danny; and Jerry Garcia who married a Deborah Koons who, while probably a fun person, was not our Deborah Koons.

Deb is survived by her brother Don (Linda) Glaser; sister Diane (Randy) Harrop; stepdaughter Tracy Koons Rockers; step grandchildren Cameron Bryant, Brenna Bryant Kaufman, and Tucker Rockers; four great grandchildren; as well as beloved nieces, nephews, cousins and a whole slew of other favorite relatives and friends.

At her request, there will be no memorial service.  Instead, she urges you to go out and do something interesting and fun in her memory.  She asks that you leave lots of room in your lives for laughter and good times.  Deb promised to meet us all again on the other side – and guarantees that there will be music.

Gaylen Curtis Koons

Born on April 11, 1941, in Valley Falls, Kansas, Gaylen Koons passed away on June 25, 2024, at Bridge Haven memory care home in Lawrence where he had resided since the fall of 2022.

Gaylen enjoyed a long and distinguished career at Maupintour, a renowned Lawrence-based escorted tour business, from the time when he started working there in the mail room in 1958 while a junior at Lawrence High School.  Having moved steadily up through the management ranks at Maupintour, he ultimately retired as the Senior Vice-President and General Manager responsible for organizing and managing about 90 domestic and international guided tours.

Under the tutelage of Tom Maupin, Gaylen opted to quit college and pursue a global education that became even more interesting and valuable to him than any university degree could match.  He had a gift for connecting with people from every walk of life and fully embraced opportunities to acquaint travelers with the uniqueness and beauty of cities and remarkable sites across the globe.

Gaylen was an avid motorcycle racer and favored Hodaka motorcycles.  A gifted rider and mechanic, he collected and rebuilt motorcycles throughout his life that were housed in what became known as his basement Motorcycle Museum.  The same attention to detail that accounted for his successful career at Maupintour was evident in the care he took in breaking down, cleaning, repairing and reassembling his motorcycles.  A long-time member of the Lawrence Wheelsport Motorcycle Club, Gaylen was exceptionally proud of achieving the Kansas statewide ranking as the #4 racer in his class.

When the downstairs museum could hold no additional motorcycles, he took to finding and purchasing used bicycles which he fixed, reconditioned and then donated to local nonprofit organizations where children and youth who had encountered traumas and scarcity in their lives received them for free.

In 1981, Gaylen married Deborah Anne Glaser and together the two of them enjoyed haunting flea markets, garage sales, second-hand stores and thrift shops in search of items to adorn both the interior and exterior parts of their home.  Friends and visitors could spend hours discovering and delighting in both valuable and quirky items that the couple had collected, with Gaylen often fashioning innovative ways to mount or display them.

Gaylen was preceded in death by his son Scott Koons and his parents Thaine and Wanda Ford Koons.  He is survived by his wife Deborah, brothers Darren Koons and Joe Henry Koons, daughter Tracy Koons Rockers, grandchildren Cameron Bryant, Brenna Bryant Kaufman and Tucker Rockers along with four great-grandchildren.

According to Gaylen’s wishes, no memorial services will be held.  In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome contributions to: Visiting Nurses Association; 200 Main Street; Lawrence, KS, 66044 or any other charity of the donor’s choice.