About Us

Scott County Lumber has deep roots in the history of our local community.
It all began back in 1892 when Foster Lumber Company was opened in Scott City, Kansas at 111 W. 4th. In 1977 a new facility was built at 1510 South Main St. That address became the new location of Foster Lumber Company. Gerald Koehn and George Wray were already part of the work force taking care of your lumber & building material needs. By 1979 Foster Lumber Company was purchased by Diamond International Corp. and Gerald was manager and George was assistant manager. In 1983 the yard was purchased by three private individuals from Boulder, Colorado (Former Foster Lumber Executives), and they chose Scott County Lumber for the name of their business investment. Sharon (Koehn) Roemer, was now part of the work force. This arrangement continued until 1997 when Gerald Koehn, long time manager, purchased Scott County Lumber.
Scott County Lumber is hometown owned and operated!

21st century (2002)

20th Century (1974)

19th Century (1892 approx.)

Our Staff

Sharon Roemer - (sharro@scottcountylumber.com) when Gerald told us we had to write a bio for the Scott County Lumber new Web page, I was sure I'd done something like this before for the old web page, but no go.
So here I go....I've worked at this lumber yard for twenty five years this September. I went to Barton County Community College and received an Associate Degree in Home Furnishings and Related Occupations. Working at Scott County Lumber would be the related occupation. I really enjoy working with paint color. I do a lot of personalized color matching for people. We do have a color matching computer that usually gets the color pretty close, but there are times I have to tweak it to catch just the right hue or tone. I do most of the hardware ordering, so if there's a product we don't carry, let me know and we'll gladly see if we can supply it for you.
I was born in Scott City many years ago to Roland & Margaret Koehn. Yes, Gerald is my brother. (I've always appreciated the opportunity he gave me with this job.) I spent my grade school years at Shallow Water School and I graduated from Scott Community High School. One of my favorite things to do was playing basketball. Now though, I do the couch version of basketball - I'm a big fan of the Kansas Jayhawks. Each year I hope this is the year they'll go all the way again, but if they don't , they're always fun to watch.
I'm married to Rick Roemer, who's had his own successful business for over 27 years: Rick's Trenching Service. We live in Healy, Kansas. We have two house cats - Boosie and Lexie. Yes, I'm one of those catlovers.

George P. Wray - (gpwray@scottcountylumber.com) Like both Gerald and Sharon I am a life long resident of Scott County. My parents are Beulah and the late Don Wray. I received all my schooling in Scott City. I graduated from SCHS in 1974. On July 20th, 1976 I started working at the then Foster Lumber Company. Gerald was the assistant manager then and I started out as a yardman. I became assistant manager when Gerald took over as manager. I help Gerald with the building material purchasing and Sharon with the hardware buying. I also take care of the outside part of the lumber yard.
As for my hobbies I like to read, mostly westerns, science fiction, and action adventure. I also like to make small woodworking projects for my family. My mom and sisters are into Antique Collecting and I do a little of it. Mostly I look for books and antique hand tools. I am a supporter of the OU Sooners (football), the Dallas Cowboys, and get together with a number of friends to watch KU Jayhawk basketball.

Gerald Koehn - (gerald@scottcountylumber.com) My association with this yard began in March of 1971. I was a Senior in high school and had decided to not go out for a spring sport. So I  began looking for a job. I knew Henry Zambrano , Jr. from our church youth group and he already worked there. He encouraged me to apply for a part time job after school and on Saturday's. I got the job and also worked there that summer. Then off and on after that while going to college at Colby Community College. In August of 1972 I went to work at Beef Belt Feeders and drove a feed truck for 6 months. Then in January of 1973, Don Irelan who was the manager at the yard asked me to come back to work there. I was ready to come back. On February 19, 1973 I became asst. manager for Scott City's Foster Lumber Company. In March of 1978, I was elevated to manager. The yard was called Diamond International from November 1978 until 1983. Then in October of 1983, three former Foster execs. purchased the yard and had me retained as manager until 1997 when I purchased the yard from them. They had given the yard the name of Scott County Lumber of which I have retained.
George and Sharon have been very important keys to the ongoing success of this lumber yard.
I enjoy working with computers and shooting video. Editing video on the computer is fun and gives me an outlet for creativity. I'll probably never have the opportunity, but it would be a blast to direct a movie with actors and the like!


Matt Werth - I am a professional pilot major at Kansas State University. This summer I am currently a pilot intern for Western Kansas Ground Water District Management #1. I am based in Scott City and Gerald was nice enough to offer me a job at the yard. I enjoy anything to do with aviation and of course KSU sports.