Gene was born in Lakewood on August 12, 1929, the son of Herman and Emma Planert Koch. He grew up in the area and when World War II escalated, he was drafted into the United States Army. After two years of service, he returned to Lakewood. On July 17, 1954, he and his fiancée, Virginia Exferd, traveled to Milwaukee and were married. They came back to Lakewood where he worked for the Marathon Paper Corp as a timber surveyor and line marker. In 1961, they moved to Milwaukee where Gene went back to school for Diesel Mechanics. After obtaining his degree, he went to work for Cummings Diesel and in 1977, moved to Billings, Montana. In Montana, he was diagnosed with his illness, and not letting it slow him down, he preceded to hunt and fish with renewed enthusiasm. In 1998, he told his wife that he had climbed every mountain, caught all the fish he wanted to catch, and had shot all the big game that he wanted to shoot. It was time to return home, so they moved back to Lakewood. Throughout life, illness included, he was never one to slow down. He was a member of the Billings 6774 VFW Post as well as the Wabeno American Legion Post 1090. He was also a member of Saint John Lutheran Church in Townsend.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Virginia; three sons, Gene Koch, Jr. of Union Grove, WI; Jerry Melanie Koch of Franksville, WI; Larry Koch of Bridgeman, MI; one sister, Emily O'Connor of Lakewood; two sisters-in-law, Pat Koch of Waukesha; Helen Robert Reininger of Rice Lake, WI; two brothers, Wayne 'Kelly' Ruth Koch of Lakewood; Herman Irene Koch of Lakewood; three brothers-in-law, George Judy Exferd of Milwaukee; Emmett Helen Exferd of Lakewood; Andy Pat Exferd of Townsend; 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Gene is further survived by numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Ollie and Hazel; two brothers, Owen and Alvin; and a nephew, Don.
Friends called upon the family on Tuesday, February 6, from 4 until 8 p.m. at the Suminski Funeral Home in Wabeno, and from 1 until 2 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7, at Saint John Lutheran Church in Townsend. Pastor Gary Bratz led the funeral services at the church at 2 p.m. Interment to take place in the spring at the Lakewood Forest Cemetery.