Evelyn V. Koch

BARRE TOWN—Evelyn Virginia (Zombeck) Koch, 96, died peacefully at Berlin Health and Rehab in Berlin on December 23, 2015.
Evelyn was born in Manhattan, NY on January 9, 1919. Her parents were both members of the merchant marine and were frequently at sea, so she was boarded with friends of the family in New Rochelle, NY until she was 6. During this time, she narrowly missed becoming the victim of serial killer Albert Fish; he started to walk her home from school one day but then suggested that they walk down a certain alley that had a bad reputation among the children, so she took off running and was later able to identify him from photos.
Moving back to the upper Bronx with her parents, Evelyn attended elementary school at P. S. 6 and then Evander Childs High School. During her junior year, she and her mother moved to Hackensack, New Jersey. In 1937, she graduated from Hackensack High School, where she met a star pitcher for the baseball team, Elmer Koch. After graduation, she attended Miller Business School in Paterson, NJ, and upon graduation, found employment with the Master Engravers Guild. In June 1940, she began work as secretary to the owner of Lowe Paper Company for the excellent salary (at that time) of $22 a week.
Evelyn and Elmer were married on October 12, 1940 and enjoyed 67 years together until his passing on January 8, 2008. They raised four children in River Edge, NJ and also maintained a vacation home at Green Pond, NJ, where the family spent 15 summers and many weekends. During these years, she was a full-time mother and homemaker and also worked a few hours a week doing secretarial work for the family business, George Koch & Sons Cemetery Memorials. Upon Elmer’s retirement in 1978, they moved to a home they built in East Barre, where she lived until moving to Berlin Health & Rehab two years ago.
Evelyn was a wonderful cook, baker, and seamstress. When the whole family got together for holiday meals, nobody ever brought any food; Evelyn did it all, and all she asked was that everyone would stay out of her kitchen! Her homemade bread was a favorite with many people, and her cookies, cakes, and cream puffs were always a hit. In New Jersey, she led a team every Lent in baking bread for Grace Lutheran Church to sell as a fundraiser. She earned dozens of blue ribbons marked “Excellent” from many years of entries in the Vermont Farm Show, as well as several marked “Best of Show!” Over the years, she made a good many dresses, as well as making many slipcovers for her furniture! After moving to East Barre, Evelyn took up golfing (at age 60) and was responsible for many lost golf balls and an excessive number of divots at the Barre Country Club! She and Elmer enjoyed many nights playing cards with friends, and she was a much better pitch player than a golfer!
In her years in River Edge, Evelyn was engaged in several organizations—the River Edge Republican Club, American Legion Auxiliary, the Grace Guild of Grace Lutheran Church, and the River Edge Recreation Commission--always as secretary. In Barre, she was a member of the Barre Town Republican Committee and the church council of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church.
Evelyn is survived by her four children: Thomas and his wife, Sally, of Barre Town; Lynn Burke, of Montville, NJ; James and his wife, Mary Ann, of Deer River, NY; and William, of Barre. She leaves ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by special friends, Jim and Karen Culver, now of Florida. She was pre-deceased by her husband, Elmer; her mother, Laura, and step-father, Louis Brown; and her son-in-law, Charles Burke.
Evelyn once told one of her children, “There are three things I did right in my life: I married your father; I raised you four children; and I moved to Vermont. And I am thankful.”
Friends may call at Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy Street, Barre from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 27. A funeral service to give thanks to God for the gift of Evelyn and to celebrate a life well lived will be held at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, 115 Northfield Street, Montpelier, VT on Monday, December 28, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions would be welcomed for Project Independence, which provided wonderful care for Evelyn for several years, 81 No. Main St., Barre, VT 05641, or to Green Mountain Council, BSA, P.O. Box 557, Waterbury, VT 05676, in recognition of the benefits that Boy Scouts provided to all three of Evelyn’s boys in their youth.