Longtime Club member John Koenig Jr. dies at 102

John Koenig Jr., a former Associated Press staffer in Washington, D.C., and a long-time National Press Club member, died in July at the age of 102 at his retirement residence in Athens, Ga.

Koenig joined the Washington AP bureau and the Club in 1956 after working for the wire service in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa. He covered Congress and specialized in Pennsylvania and Virginia news.

He was a prolific freelance writer of travel articles for major publications throughout the United States. After leaving the AP he worked in Washington in public relations for the National Forest Products Association, the Railway Progress Institute and the National Coal Policy Conference until retiring in 1985.

He is survived by his wife, Marie, who formerly covered foreign affairs and the State Department in Washington for the U.S. Information Agency and the Voice of America.