Harold Frank Koeplin

Harold Frank Koeplin of Clemson, South Carolina, entered God’s kingdom on January 7th,

2025. He was 98 years old. He was born in Bay City, Michigan, on May 8, 1926, to parents

Frank and Frieda Koeplin. He grew up on his family’s farm in Saginaw and spoke only German

until he learned English in kindergarten.

At just 18 years old, Harold was drafted into the army in World War II in August of 1944. He

served as a frontline rifleman in the European theater, earning a Purple Heart after a mortar

shell injured him in the Battle of the Bulge. He was sent back into action after nurses discovered

he could run just fine when he was caught playing baseball with other patients. During another

stay in a field hospital, Harold bunked next to the entertainer Mickey Rooney.

After his service ended in 1945, Harold attended Michigan State University on the GI Bill from

1947-1951. He graduated with a degree in the hospitality field. He served state-side during the

Korean War from 1951-1953 before landing at the General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan,

where he worked for 35 years as the department head of food services. On May 24, 1952, he

married his beautiful and bubbly wife Lucille, and together they enjoyed 71 years of traveling,

card playing, and laughter. They raised their family in Fenton, Michigan, before splitting their

time between Elk Rapids, MI, and Clemson, SC, where they permanently settled in 2011.

“Old Harry,” as he jokingly called himself, was an avid outdoorsman throughout his life. From

taking long walks with his childhood German Shepard, Waldman, to breaking state and regional

records in the mile run for Saginaw Arthur Hill High School in 1944, to his infamous “100 push-

ups a day” as an older man, Harold was always keeping active. He also greatly enjoyed golfing

and cheering on his favorite sports teams: the Detroit Tigers, Michigan State football and

basketball, and Clemson Tigers baseball.

Harold was a devoted man of faith who was always thankful for God’s blessings and protection.

Three of the most important lessons he learned during his near century of life were to love your

family, be thankful for life’s various gifts, and have a sense of humor. He embodied these values

in everything he did.

Harold was the devoted husband of the late Lucille Koeplin; committed father to Angela (Greg)

Reighard, Kurt (Laura) Koeplin, Lisa (Michael) Wheeler, and Matthew Koeplin; loving

grandfather to Chelsea (Joseph), Shane, Paul, Libbie (Travis), Maddie, Sydney, Alex, and

Caroline; and great-grandfather to Lilith. He was the brother of Oscar and the late Rose Stewart,

Ernest, and Gerald Koeplin.

Services for Harold will be held on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 at 11:00 AM, at Eternal

Shepherd Lutheran Church, 220 Carson Rd., Seneca, SC, 29678.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Eternal Shepherd Lutheran

Church.