Earl Koch
Earl Ray Koch was born November 21, 1942, in Huron, SD, to Dorothy (Mulholland) and Allen Koch. The family moved to Rapid City, SD, in 1957 where Earl graduated high school in 1960. He enlisted in the Navy and served on the USS Cunningham as a radar operator. While stationed in California, he married Charlene Wessell in 1961 and they were blessed with six children. After his discharge from the service in 1963, he went to work for Safeway and was employed by the company at several different locations in the United States over the next 40 years. Earl and Charlene were divorced in 1995 and Earl met and married Patricia Broughton in 1997 in Rapid City. He retired from the Safeway Store on Mountain View Road in Rapid City in 2003. Earl and Pat moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 2016. His favorite past time was NASCAR and he was known to have gone through withdrawal during the off season. He also loved fishing, visiting his children and his brother Dennis in their RV.
Earl is survived by his wife Pat; a son Chuck (Chris) Koch of Chico, CA; daughters Karen Reid of Chico, CA, Carol Davis of Mt. Pleasant, MI, Lisa (Kris) Fauss of Newaygo, MI, Erica (Ernie) Pearson of Chico, CA; and stepchildren Christopher (Kim) Hanson and Shana Hanson, all of Fort Dodge, and Tim (Nicci) Hanson of Des Moines, Iowa. He had 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandsons that he loved.
He was preceded in death by his parents Allen and Dorothy Koch, a daughter Kristy, his brother Dennis and his grandparents. He will be cremated and a celebration of life service will be held at a future date. His cremains will be interred in the Newell Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be left to the discretion of the family.