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Harryette Esther Riecks Koch
Entered into rest on December 10, 2007 in the loving arms of her daughter, Esther Lynne Koch. Beloved wife of the late George Koch and daughter of the late Harry and Esther Riecks. Survived by her daughter and all those who came to know and love her.
Born and raised in San Francisco, she attended Aptos Junior High School and Lowell High School, and received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from San Francisco State University. She was actively involved in a number of organizations including her Lowell alumni class, Eastern Star, the Femineers and the San Francisco State Alumni Association where she for many years served on the Board of Directors. She was a teacher with the San Francisco Unified School District.
A Daughter's Remembrance
I will remember my mother most for the gracious and elegant woman that she was. She was always a gracious lady. She was also a beautiful woman with the core of that beauty coming from within.
Family and friends were very important to my mother. She passed on to me what her mother passed on to her, To Have a Friend, You Must Be Friend. She truly believed that and lived that, and had a wide circle of friends as a result of it.
Gratitude was an important part of my mother’s core being. She was grateful for what this life brought her and for all the people in her life. In her later years, when she was dependent upon the help of others, the two words that she expressed most were Thank You and she truly meant it.
Another principal that guided my mother was respect. She respected all whom she met and always saw the best in people and with that brought the best out in them. This must have served her well as a teacher.
My mother’s positive attitude toward life presented itself in a variety of ways. She was joy-filled and was truly happy to the very end, and just being around her brought joy to your heart. That twinkle in her eye was hard to resist.
One of my mother’s greatest loves was dancing. As a professional ballroom dancer she performed at the Peacock Court of the Mark Hopkins Hotel. She particularly enjoyed dancing the hula. She moved with elegance and many would say that when she danced the hula she was swept away. She would say that too.
My mother called herself a survivor, and survive she did through numerous health challenges during her life finally succumbing just days before her 88th birthday to her fifth cancer, leukemia. But live is what she really did, always knowing that God was working for her good.
I benefited from all aspects of the person that my mother was plus her being the most supportive person in my life. She took great pride in all that I accomplished, celebrating even my smallest victories. During the last ten years, I have been her primary caregiver. It was during these years that our relationship grew into one of mutual unconditional love. We had so many wonderful Moments of Joy that I will treasure forever. Her constant reassuring presence in my life meant the world to me.
A Celebration of Life service, I’ll Remember You, will be held Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 2:00p.m. at the Unity Palo Alto Community Church, 3391 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306-3049. Memorial tributes in her memory are requested to be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, c/o Michele Thompson, 675 North First Street, Suite 1100, San Jose, CA 95112-5156. |
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