Janice Rae Koch

Janice passed peacefully in her sleep in Colorado Springs, Colorado on March 10, 2022, just shy of her 97th birthday. She was born in Akron, Ohio on March 27, 1925 to Wally and Peg Mann. She lived through the Great Depression and often told stories of that time. She graduated from Kenmore High School in 1943, and then attended the University of Akron. During WWII she worked as a “Rosie the Riveter,” although she never drove a rivet. Small in stature she was quickly identified as someone who could install the wiring in the wingtips of the airplanes they were building. She married John Joseph Koch in 1949. They had three sons, John Koch (Sandy) of Colorado Springs, CO, Dave Koch (Lynn) of Silverdale, WA, and Jim Koch (Kathy) of San Tan Valley, AZ. Although they divorced in 1973, she still considered herself his widow. Her sons will always remember the road trip they took, when she drove them herself from Ohio to California. Memories of that trip include Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon, and the measles. When the boys were in Elementary School, she was PTA President and ran many a geranium sale to raise money for the PTA. Well before computers and word processing, she was “volunteered” to type the Junior High School newspaper and did so happily. The family moved from Ohio to Atlanta, Georgia in 1965, and then to Southern California in 1967. Once her boys were on their own, she had a number of administrative jobs including dispatching busses for the Fullerton UHSD, and running the van pool for the Bechtel Corporation. She loved her 10 grandchildren, Jennifer, Nathan, Ryan, Lacey, Adam (deceased), Andrew, Leslie, Robyn, Justin, and Matthew. She did her best to be involved in their lives and attended as many of their events as possible. She did the same with her 16 great-grandchildren. She loved her food with pizza, pasta, fried chicken, and prime rib among her favorites. Her two very best favorites though were cheeseburgers and ice cream. She confessed that when she was young, she would often choose to walk home so that she could spend her bus money on ice cream. An accomplished pianist, she loved all types of music, especially the music of her youth, big band music and Frank Sinatra. She was well-known for her card skills, and especially loved playing euchre and bridge. Even in the last few years she was in high demand as a bridge player at her assisted living facility. She cared about others and others loved her, describing her as a lovely person and giving her hugs wherever she went. Happily, she lived long enough to cross everything off her bucket list. The family will gather in her honor at her son John’s home on her birthday, March 27th. There will be a family graveside service at Mt. Peace Cemetery in Akron, Ohio in June. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.