George Theodore Koch

Dec. 17, 1896 – May 11, 1964

Services for George T. Koch, 63, of 1903 Marine St., who was named the community’s “Catholic Man of the Year” last year and a Riley High School teacher for more than 32 years, will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in St. Mathews Co-Cathedral.

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Arnold J. Wilbert, rector, will officiate and burial will be in St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park.

Friends may call after 7 p.m. today at the Walsh-Bilancio-Guisinger Colonial Chapter, 378 S. Michigan St., where members of Santa Maria Council 553 Knights of Columbus, will recite the rosary at 7 p.m. Wednesday. At 8 p.m. Wednesday members of St. Matthew’s parish will recite the rosary.

Mr. Koch died of a heart ailment at 11:30 a.m. Monday in Memorial Hospital. He was appointed to the South Bend Park Board by the late Mayor George A. Schock in December, 1948. A member of the board from 1944 to 1952, he had served at its president during that time.

Active in the K. of C., he was grand knight of Santa Maria Council 553 from 1942 to 1944 and served as district deputy from 1945 to 1946.

Frequently in demand as a speaker for the church and civic functions, Mr. Koch was awarded the Frank Palmer Toastmasters trophy in 1955 and 1962. During 1960 he headed the speakers’ bureau and conducted the state oratorical contest for the K. of C.  He was a member of the K. of C. Toastmasters Club.

During recent years he was a member of the South Bend Planning Commission.

A member of the Holy Name Society and the Ushers Club of St. Mattew’s parish, he also was a member of the American Federation of Teachers.

He was born in Macomb, Ill., on Dec. 17, 1900. In 1930 in South Bend he married Dorothy Gibson, who survives.

Also surviving are two sons, Jerry, of South Bend, and Robert, of Kansas City, Kan.; two daughters, Mrs. Thomas King and Mrs. Connie Vanderbilt, both of South Bend, and eight grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Joseph Kruyer, Andrew D. McKim, John Harringer, Harold N. Zielinski and Fred L. Geissel, all past grand knights of the Santa Maria Council 553, and Arthur W. Goulet.

Published in the South Bend Tribune on Tuesday, May 12, 1964.

05/05/2024 DEC

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97022147/george-theodore-koch