Koch, George J. (Father)

Jesuit Father George J. Koch died on Jan. 31, 2016, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos, California, after a brief illness. He was 88.

Fr. Koch was born in St. Louis on Feb. 17, 1927, the son of George Koch and Beulah Myland Koch. After the death of his father, young Fr. Koch and his family moved to Berkeley in 1944. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco and entered the Society of Jesus in Los Gatos on Feb. 10, 1945. The following summer, his brother, Charles, followed him into the novitiate.

Fr. Koch made studies in philosophy at Gonzaga University and theology studies at Alma College, Los Gatos. He and his brother, Charles, were ordained together in San Francisco on June 12, 1959.

During his formation as a Jesuit, Fr. Koch taught at Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose, and at St. Ignatius in San Francisco. Following ordination, he taught at Bellarmine for 20 years. Health issues brought him to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, where he spent the final years of his life praying for the Church, the Society of Jesus, and province benefactors and friends.

Fr. Koch is survived by several cousins and predeceased by his brother, Fr. Charles Koch, SJ.