Linus B. "Lenny" Koch

Linus B. “Lenny” Koch, 74, Seneca, died Friday, October 8, 2004, at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. He had been in failing health and had been on kidney dialysis for two years.
     He was born March 1, 1930, on a farm north of Baileyville, the son of Frank H. and Frances M. Rusche Koch. Lenny attended Sacred Heart School in Baileyville and worked on the family farm.
     On February 28, 1959, he married Carol Beckman at Sacred Heart Church in Baileyville. They lived on the family farm three years and in Axtell for five years. In 1969 they bought the family homestead where they lived, farmed, and operated a dairy. He loved horses, especailly breaking them, and always had horses on the farm. He also had a sawmill on his farm where his sons Dan and Jim became interested in woodworking and cabinet making with their dad’s help. This was instrumental in later years when Dan and Jim started Koch and Company, now a major industry in Seneca. Besides farming he bought cattle in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Colorado for Bill Wiebe of Summerfield. His latest hobby was raising dogs and selling them.
     In September of 2002, he and Carol moved into Seneca. Lenny helped his sons at Koch and Company, and was a delivery driver for them.
     He was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church, the St. Joseph Society at the church in Seneca, and a former member of Sacred Heart Church. He was a lifetime member of the National Pony Express Association.
     Survivors are his wife, Carol of the home; five sons, Dan, Jim, Brian, and Barry of Seneca, and Doug of Baileyville; three daughters, Kita Koch, Brenda Bennett, Shelly Rilinger, all of Seneca; two brothers, Fred Koch of Fairway and Frank Koch of Beattie; and sixteen grandchildren.
     He was preceded in death by six brothers, William, Leo, Paul, Alvin, Sylvester, and Raymond Koch; and a sister, Irene Fangman.
     The mass of Christian burial will be 10:30 A.M. Monday at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. The burial will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Baileyville. He will lie in state at the Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca after 8:30 A.M. Sunday where a prayer service will be conducted at 2 P.M. and the rosary will be prayed at 7 P.M.
     Memorials may be given for the Kansas Dialysis Center, Sabetha, KS, or for the Pony Express Museum, Seneca, and sent in care of the family.