City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Peter Albert Konneker
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 93.
Died 08/13/2025.
His memorial service will be at Wilson’s Mills Christian Church on Saturday, the 30th of August at 3 p.m. Reverend Lea Slaton will officiate. The address is 179 Fire Department Road, Clayton, NC 27527. Pete’s remains were cremated. There will be a graveside service in the fall in Carlinville.
Peter Albert Konneker was born on the farm in Carlinville, Illinois to William Otto and Opal (nee Leefers) Konneker on July 8th, 1932. He attended Rural Elementary school and joined 4H where he et the love of his life, Rachel Clare Loehr. He graduated from Carlinville High School in 1950. He left Carlinville for the University of Illinois and returned home to marry Rachel at her family farm in June of 1952. Pete was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity and attained Bronze Tablet academic status by being at the top of his class. He graduated in 1954 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering and was admitted into the Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society. Immediately after graduation he received a commission in the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant and proceeded to Mariana, Florida for primary pilot training. Then he was assigned to advanced pilot training flying T-6s at Reese AFB in Lubbock, Texas where he graduated first in his class and was assigned as a multi-engine instructor pilot in the B-25. Pete’s next assignment was to Yokota AFB near Tokyo, Japan where he flew the RB-57. From there, the Air Force sent him to get a master’s degree in electrical engineering back at the University of Illinois. He used that degree in a short engineering assignment managing the EC/RC-135 program at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio flying C-47s for currency. He then completed a combat tour in Vietnam flying the B-57. By then, he had 6 children and moved the family to Fort Walton Beach, assigned to Eglin and Hurlburt AFBs flying F-4s and T-33s. His final tour of duty was at the Pentagon working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he retired in the rank of LtCol after 23 years of service. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, numerous Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster. Pete’s second career was as a plant engineer and plant manager for a telephone cable manufacturer. He was employed in Monticello, Illinois, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and finally Clayton, North Carolina where he retired as a loving husband tending to a large garden enjoying life as a father, grandfather and great grandfather.
Pete was preceded in death by his best friend, partner in life, mother of his children and wife of 68 years, Rachel Clare Konneker nee Loehr.
He was the last surviving member of the Otto and Opal Konneker family. Both his parents, his sister Irene and his two brothers Donald and Arthur preceded him in death.
Peter and Rachel were survived by all six of their children and their spouses who will attend his memorial service together. They are Claudia Klesert (Tony), Lloyd Konneker (Deborah), Becky McFall (Donald), Neal Konneker (Melissa), David Konneker (Donette), and John Konneker (Camille). Those children are the proud parents of Pete and Rachel’s ten grandchildren, Joe Klesert, Alicia Konneker Nielsen, David Klesert, Kate McFall Heins, Thomas Konneker, Peter Konrad Konneker, Dena Konneker Stevens, Adam Konneker, William McFall, and Zoie Konneker. Their great grandchildren are Milo and Owen Klesert; Tanner, Kendall and Michaela Gillispie; Evelyn, Bridget and Grant Nielsen; Sean and Talia Klesert; Clara and Henry Heins; Ralph Konneker; Rachel, Andrew and Wesley Konneker; Anna Stevens; and Leo, Gryffin, and Rook Konneker.
Pete’s family would like to thank all their friends and extended family for their support during this time of grieving and remembrance. Memorials should be given to the Wilsons Mills Christian Church in Clayton North Carolina.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
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Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.