Andrew A. “Andy” Koppenhaver

Andrew A. “Andy” Koppenhaver, 83, of Winchester, VA, died May 17^th, 2015 at Winchester Medical Center.

Born in Hegins, PA on May 2 1932, he was a 1950 graduate from Hegins High School.  After graduation, he worked as a coal miner before attending Penn State University and earning a degree in Electrical Engineering.  He served in the Army Reserve and was called to active duty during the Berlin crises where he served as the executive officer of a signal corps radio relay company. He was discharged with the rank of Captain.

After his military service he worked for General Dynamics in Rochester, NY working on Anti-Submarine Warfare equipment and Tactical Air Navigation systems.  Later, he was employed by the ITT Electro-Physics labs in Maryland where he worked on over-the-horizon radars. From 1975 until his retirement in 1996 he worked for the Illinois Institute of Technology at the Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis Center in Annapolis, MD as a Research Engineer working on military exercise compatibility, NASA launch compatibility, and the Next Generation Doppler Weather Radar (NEXRAD).

He was a member of the American Legion Post 21 of Winchester, a member of the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, and former member of the Godfrey Miller Home & Fellowship Center board.  For seven years, he volunteered for Faith-in-Action transporting Winchester-area patients to dialysis and other medical appointments.

Andy was a dedicated family man and avid genealogist.  Through the years, he amassed a database of information on over 2,000 family members and ancestors which became the basis for the publication The Life and American Ancestry of Andrew Alfred Koppenhaver found online at: http://koppenhaver.net/ancestry/

All his life, he was a faithful Christian.  He was president of the Lutheran Student Association at Penn State, a teacher and former superintendent of Sunday school, and served on many church councils and committees. 

Surviving are his wife Joan (Huntzinger) Koppenhaver, of Winchester, VA; three sons, Andrew Koppenhaver of Littleton, CO, Mark Koppenhaver and wife Brenda of Shenandoah Junction, WV, and Tim Koppenhaver and wife Allison of Winchester, VA; and seven grandchildren: Benjamin and Rebecca Koppenhaver of Herndon, VA, Kristy, Kyle and Hunter Koppenhaver of Shenandoah Junction, WV and Brooke and Colleen Koppenhaver of Winchester, VA.

The memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on June 13th at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Winchester, VA.  Visitation begins at 10:00 a.m.

Burial will be in the Lutheran Memorial Garden of Mount Hebron Cemetery, Winchester VA.

Contributions may be made in Andy’s memory to the Godfrey Miller Home of Winchester or the Grace Lutheran Church Thanksgiving Memorial Fund.