Christopher Koger July 5, 1969 – April 23, 2017

Christopher Koger was born in Los Angeles and moved to Eureka Springs in 1975. He was a student of Clear Spring School and a 1988 graduate of ESHS. He passed away in Atlanta, Georgia, at age 47.

From the age of 6, “Christo” was a “Eureka kid.” With his pals, he explored the streets of Eureka Springs and the terrain of the Ozarks with equal exuberance. He rappelled, spelunked, hiked, floated the rivers, jumped off the bluffs of Beaver Lake and swam in Lake Leatherwood. Chris marched in Eureka parades, attended countless community potlucks, was a cast member in the Passion Play, frequented the Berryville cinema and enjoyed Eureka friends of all ages. His school days were constructive and social, overseen by a host of adept instructors.  Chris played basketball and was a Boy Scout who later became an assistant Scout leader. He attended U of A in Fayetteville.

An Army vet, Chris participated in “Operation Just Cause,” the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama.

Despite an unassuming charm and effortless generosity, Chris relished a challenge. With characteristic wry humor, he took the Mensa test “just to see if he could pass it,” and he did. As a fashion-conscious teen, Chris declared that he would never be a “computer nerd.” As an adult, however, his natural abilities prevailed and he forged a career in the IT sector. In the 1990s, he headed a team contracted by MCI to design and build network security systems internationally. At the time of his death, Chris was employed by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs in Atlanta as a network engineer.  

Sensitive and insightful with a gentle, loving spirit, Christopher Koger will be missed, loved and remembered always and forever by those who knew and loved him. He treasured his family and is survived by his wife, Ingrid, and two daughters whom he loved dearly, Evelyn and Savanna, ages 13 and 11, of Atlanta; his Mom, Elaine Van Natta of Eureka Springs; brother, Tim Freeman of Fayetteville; step-dad, Clarke Freeman of Eureka Springs. He is already greatly missed by his aunts, Michelle Cook Holloran of Beaver, Ark.; Deborah Van Natta of Salt Lake City; Julia Freeman Bingham of Hindsville, Ark.; his uncles, Randy Cook of Springfield, Mo., and Burton Freeman of Rogers, Ark., and his Bingham and Freeman cousins, Billy, Sally, Jennifer and Susan. Chris was preceded in death by his father, Gary L. Koger.