John David Koch

1951 - 2024

John David Koch

October 13, 1951 - May 26, 2024

John David Koch, 72, of Corvallis OR passed peacefully in his sleep the morning of May 26th. He had spent two months in hospice care at home, after his body rejected a double lung transplant he received in 2021. He is survived by his wife Libby, children Chris, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, son-in-law James, grandchildren Brayden and Demetri, and twin brother Martin. He was preceded in death by his younger brother Richard and his older brother Jim.

John was born to Harlan and Esther Koch in Madison, WI on October 13th, 1951. (He liked it when his birthday landed on a Friday, so he could joke about being unlucky.) His family moved to Chicago in 1955, to Palo Alto, Ca in 1956, and to Rolling Hills, Ca in 1967. His dad's work in dairy breeding is what brought them to California. In 1967 he and Martin traveled in Venezuela, Columbia, and Ecuador with his older brother Jim, who was stationed in Venezuela with the Peace Corps. He graduated from Rolling Hills High School in 1969 and attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, graduating in 1974 with a degree in Architecture and a talent for repairing old VW vans and bugs.

John moved to Seattle and was happy to find a job with Space Time Homes, which created unique homes for unique people, often utilizing salvaged and reclaimed architectural elements. (John referred to the style of these homes as "funky" and "freaky" at the extreme edges of the architectural spectrum.) Notable clients included Nancy Wilson, of the rock band Heart. In 1980 he worked for and then partnered with Tonkin/Koch Architecture.

He met his wife, Libby Ankarberg, in 1980 when she was the civil engineer on a project he worked on. John stood out to Libby as the only man on the project who acknowledged and valued her input. For their first date John took Libby sailing. The couple lived in the Central district of Seattle in a Victorian home that was renovated by John and a childhood friend (Jim Wilmer) when Chris was born. They moved to Bellevue, WA in 1987 where they welcomed Elizabeth.

The family moved to Corvallis, OR in 1988 to return to Libby's hometown and for John to become Assistant Director of Planning and Construction at Oregon State University, and this is where Jennifer was born.

In 2006 he went to work as the Facilities Senior Staff Architect at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles where he was fondly nicknamed "Tigger". In 2009 he rejoined Tonkin Architecture as a partner, living part-time in Seattle and returning to Corvallis on weekends. He was a meticulous professional and continued mentoring young architects until his retirement in 2019. Passionate and energetic, he helped his son-in-law, James, build a family home outside of Salem, OR in 2019, and continued practicing architecture until early 2024.

John will be remembered for being outgoing and vivacious. Whenever he was asked how he was by friends or strangers rain or shine he would energetically reply "tubular!" His hobbies in Seattle included the Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club, crewing for sailboat races on Lake Washington and in Puget Sound, and marching in Seattle's St Patrick's Day parade with the Irish Water Spaniel and their owners. In Corvallis, he had a constant succession of home improvement projects, he designed homes for friends from time to time, and enjoyed regularly dog walking as much for an excuse to chat with neighbors as because Bain needed another walk.

A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on Saturday the 22nd at First Congregational Church of Corvallis 4515 SW West Hills Rd. To Leave Condolences please vist https://memorialsource.com/memorial/john-koch.