John W. Koza

John W. Koza A leader in the real estate capital management industry and a beloved husband, father and friend, died on February 27, 2009 in his home in Calistoga, CA. He was 67. Born in 1941 and raised on the South Shore of Boston, Mr. Koza was the son of John S. and Mary Kennedy Koza of Quincy, MA. After graduating from Archbishop Williams High School, he graduated with a BSBA in economics from Boston College. He later earned an MBA in Finance from Boston University. After college, Mr. Koza served in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1965. He was as a First Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps stationed in Wurzburg, Germany. After a career in mutual funds and banking, Mr. Koza began his real estate career at Fidelity Investments and later served as Senior Vice President of Asset Management at The Boston Company Real Estate Counsel, Inc. With a move to the West Coast, Mr. Koza was the Director of Real Estate Consulting for Frank Russell Company in Tacoma, WA and then Managing Principal of The McMahan Group in San Francisco, CA. In 1998, he formed Koza & Co. of which he was Principal and later formed Koza Partners, which he considered the fruition of his vision for real estate capital management. Mr. Koza served on the advisory boards of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as Crosswater Realty Advisors. He was past Chairman of the NCREIF Valuation Committee, the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and the PREA Institute Committee. He was a member of Lambda Alpha. Mr. Koza served on numerous boards including Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston, MA, The Annie Wright School in Tacoma, WA, and Calistoga Affordable Housing, Inc. He is survived by his wife, Linda Marie Koza and her two sons, Richard and John Loeb. In addition, he leaves his six children from his first marriage to Karen Monroe Koza; Gail K. Koza and her husband, Paul Meskell, Karla Koza Evers, her husband Stefan, their sons Ethan and Maxfield, Adele R. Kohler, her husband William, their three children, John, Ella, and Scarlett, Carole Koza Varghese and her husband George, William M. Koza and his wife, Alena, and Thomas J. Koza. Mr. Koza is also survived by his four siblings: Carol Burns and her husband James, Mary Drown, Doris Baldwin and her fiancée Richard Mullowney, and Robert Koza and his wife, Susan. He is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews and their families. Known for his quick wit, his loyalty to his friends and family as well as his belief in the value of education as a conduit to success, John relished his interpersonal relationships and conversations. He took great pleasure in his role as mentor to many in his field and advisor to his children. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 4th at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 901 Washington St, Calistoga, CA. A gravesite service will follow at the St. Helena Cemetery, 2461 Spring St., St. Helena, CA. A public viewing will be held on the morning of Wednesday, March 4th at Morrison Funeral Chapel of Napa Valley, 990 Vintage Ave., St. Helena, CA, 707-963-3536 www.morrisonfuneralchapel.com. Please call for exact times. A Memorial Service to honor Mr. Koza's life will be held on Saturday, March 7th at 10:00 a.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, 111 Exchange St., Millis, MA. A reception for friends and family will follow at the home of Adele and Will Kohler, 10 Baker Rd., Medfield, MA.