James T. Koelzer, 64, of Seneca, died on Friday, September 19, 2014 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

He was born on May 16, 1950 to Thomas H. and Virginia Eis Koelzer in Seneca, Kansas. He attended Sts. Peter & Paul and graduated High School with the Class of 1968. He attended Cloud County in Concordia, Kansas before joining the Air Force in April 6, 1970. He was assigned to the 15th Comm Sq (ADC). He served in Vietnam and was discharged in April 5, 1974 as a Sergeant.

On January 5, 1980 he married Janet Heiman at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Seneca. He was the 4th generation to own and operate Koelzer Lumber located on Main Street in Seneca. Jim was generous with his time and truly enjoyed visiting and helping others. He loved cars and motorcycles; and during one summer took his family to 23 car shows.

He was the founder of the Seneca Car Show, which he continued to help organize for the past 27 years, as well as the founder of the Seneca Car Club. He was a past President of the Nemaha County 4-H Fair Board, and was Grand Marshall of the 4-H Parade in 2011. He was a member of the Seneca Memorial Post #7458 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Earl W. Taylor Post #21 of the American Legion both of Seneca. He served as Director of the Legion Riders of Post #21 and as the Commander for three years and as Adjutant for three years. He was a member of the VFW Legion Riders Post 1367 in Holton for three years, and was a member and vice-president of R.O.A.M. in the Heartland. Jim was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church.

He was preceded in death by his father, Thomas Koelzer on January 20, 1988; and his sister, Joyce E. Koelzer Akers-Beljan on January 22, 2007.

He is survived by his wife, Janet Koelzer of Seneca; his children, Bob Koelzer of Seneca, Angie (Anthony) Wassenberg of Lincoln, Nebraska, Tim (Kylee) Koelzer of Manhattan and Kim (Jesse) Koelzer of Lawrence; his mother, Virginia Koelzer of Topeka; a brother, Rick Koelzer of Topeka; two sisters, Dr. Anita (Mark) Koelzer of Lafayette, Colorado and Nancy (Mike) Sumpter of Topeka; and a grandson, Hayden Wassenberg.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, September 27th at 10 AM at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Seneca. Rosaries will be at Lauer Funeral Home on Friday, September 26th at 2 & 7PM. Burial will be in Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery, with full military honors.