Helen Mercedes Koch

Helen Koch was a wonderful loving wife, mom, grandma, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, great-grandma and great-great-grandma throughout her lifetime. She loved life and with a positive attitude, she always worked around whatever obstacles life had put in her path. Her love of family and God were the most important things to her. She was born on December 03, 1922 to Arthur W. and Cecilia M. Johnson in Kit Carson, Colorado. She was the middle child of 6 siblings, 2 brothers and 4 sisters. She attended Kit Carson schools through high school and business college in Colorado Springs. She returned to work on the family farm during the Depression. Upon leaving the farm, she worked various jobs and met her future husband, Alvin Koch, when he delivered a new tractor to her father. They were married on September 18, 1949. They were blessed with four children Sharyn L. Overholt (Bob), Terrel E. Chappell (Ron), Roger A. Koch (Cindy), and Cindy M. Cribari (Rocky). They moved to Mack, CO during the summer of 1954 and ran a Grocery Store and Gas Station. In 1962 they moved to Orchard Mesa and became members of the newly founded Orchard Mesa Christian Church. They also took over the operation of the Whitewater Grocery Store and Gas Station until 1966. In 1967 she began a new career as Pharmacy Tech at Gibson Pharmacy. After Gibson's closing, she was employed by the Teacher's Credit Union where she worked her way up to Loan Officer. Her loving husband passed away on October 10, 1981. She retired in 1987 and took care of her grandchildren and worked part-time as a Home Interior Displayer until her Macular Degeneration prevented her from continuing in Home Interiors. Right to the very end, she never turned down the opportunity of playing the game of Upwords with ANYONE who was up to the challenge. (Good Luck Winning!!) The activities that the Macular Degeneration did not affect were weed pulling (Weeds Fear Me) or bowling until her fall on her 94th birthday, December 3, 2016, which broke her right femur. She rehabilitated through physical therapy using walkers, canes, hard work and stubborn determination. Her subsequent fall, in May of 2019, left her with a broken collarbone and a fractured rib. This was the beginning of the downward spiral which culminated in her death on June 12,2019 in the Hospice Care Center in Grand Junction, CO. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday, June 15, 2019 at the Orchard Mesa Christian Church. A graveside service will take place at a later date. Services will be announced at the Martin Mortuary web page where you may sign up for notifications for changes to the Helen's webpage.