Lawrence J. Koch

Lawrence J. Koch, 92, of Seneca, Kansas, died July 11, 2002, at Country View Estates Care Home in Seneca.
     He was born July 5, 1910, at the farm home of his parents, William and Mary Holan Koch, southwest of Centralia, Kansas. He was baptized in the Catholic faith at Coal Creek Catholic Church.
     He was the last surviving grandson of John and Mary Wilibritz Koch who helped establish and build St. Mary's Church in St. Benedict, Kansas. Lawrence attended rural grade schools in the Centralia area. Lawrence's father, William Koch, Sr., died in 1923. Lawrence, at the age of 15 in 1925, assumed responsibility for managing the family farm and supporting his mother and two younger sisters.
     On June 2, 1943, he was married to Lorena Wessel at Sacred Heart Church in Baileyville, Kansas, by Fr. Grosdidier. She survives of the home.
     Lawrence was a farmer and stockman in Nemaha County for all but six years of his career, when the family lived and farmed northwest of Axtell in Marshall County. He and Lorena retired from farming in 1974 and moved to Seneca where they cared for E.N. "Dick" Erickson in his home at Seneca for 8-1/2 years.
     Lawrence suffered a severe stroke in October of 1991. Lorena cared for him
in their home in Terrace Heights Apartments until April of 1999 when he
entered Country View Care Home.
     He was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Seneca and the St. Joseph Society. He was a former member of St. Michael's Church in Axtell.
     Survivors besides his wife of 59 years, Lorena, are their son, Maurice Koch of Meriden, Kansas; their daughter, Rose Mary Altenhofen of Tonganoxie, Kansas; a sister, Lucy Deters of Seneca; and nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
     Besides his parents he was preceded in death by brothers, Wancel, William Jr., Andrew, Louis, and Ralph; sisters, Lena Barber, Florence Feldkamp, and Gertrude Droge.
     Mass of the resurrection in celebration of Lawrence's life will be Saturday at 8:30 A.M. at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. Burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery at Baileyvillle, Kansas. The rosary will be prayed at 2 P.M. Friday at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca, with a vigil prayer service at 7 P.M. that evening.
     Memorial contributions may be given for the Seneca E.M.T. Association or Sts. Peter & Paul School or to the donor's choice, and sent in care of the family.