Betty M. James

Betty Marie Koch James passed away on her 97th birthday at her home, Heron Place Senior Living, on February 7, 2022. She was the granddaughter of Phillip A Koch, an 1874 German immigrant (18 years old) who migrated to Evansville, Indiana, where he learned English and purchased farmland to raise his 12 children while becoming a naturalized citizen. After watching her grandfather die of skin cancer, Betty decided to pursue nursing as a career. With the outbreak of WWII and the federal government needing nurses, she joined the Nurse Cadet Corps after high school and worked primarily in public health as a nurse.

Betty met and married U.S. Army Sergeant Francis W. James of Batavia, NY, right after WWII. She spent two years in post-WWII Germany meeting distant Koch relatives when Francis was stationed in Augsburg. While in Germany, Betty’s first daughter, Carol, was born in 1954. In 1956, the family returned to the United States, and in 1957 her second daughter, Melanie, was born. In the late 1970s, Betty retired, moved to Francisco, Indiana, and fulfilled one of her dreams - to live on a country farm again, raising sheep, dairy goats, and chickens. She enjoyed making friends with the Amish and often visited their region. Her closest neighbors were the McKinneys, Weavers, and Clarence and Maria Dayvolt. She remained there, raising her animals until age forced her to move to town in Poseyville, Indiana.

In 1999, Betty moved in with her grandson Michael and his family on his goat ranch in Kansas. When the family moved back to Idaho, Betty moved with them in 2003, and in 2011, Betty moved in with Carol in Nampa. She enjoyed going for rides in the country, the mountains, and watching Animal Planet. She was always thrilled to visit with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. She was blessed to have held four generations of her posterity.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Amila Koch, and a brother, Kenneth “Bud,” Koch. She is survived by a brother, Ralph Koch (Debbie-Indiana), her daughters, Carol Moffett (Nampa, Idaho), Melanie Wilhelm (Haubstadt, Indiana ), three grandsons Michael (Michelle-Nampa, Idaho); Isaac (Tracy- Wendell, Idaho); & Seward (Shannon-Fernley, Nevada), one granddaughter, Heather Wilhelm (Haubstadt, Indiana), eight great-grandchildren, Devyn, Hannah (Mike), Daylynn (David Gardner), Gabrielle, Brianna-Rose, and Brandon (Isaac) and Shane, Sarah, and Sage (Seward), and four great-great-grandchildren. Daniel and Grayson, (Devyn Moffett & Justin Barroso); Ezra (Gabrielle), Zorya (Daylynn & David Gardner).

Betty’s family would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for the care and companionship she received from the staff at Heron Place over the last four years and the excellent care of the team at Lighthouse Hospice.

Betty will be buried next to her beloved grandfather in Campground Cemetery (formally Campground Cemetery), Evansville, Indiana.