HENRY KOCH
Henry Koch, junior member of the firm of Koch & Son, coal and ice merchants, Pekin, Ill., is a young man whose efforts so far justify large expectations on the part of his fellow townsmen, and who has the advantage of grit, determination, force and far-sightedness, as well as the business training received under so conscientious and painstaking an instructor as his father, Otto Koch, a pioneer of this section whose qualities are presented at length in another part of this work. The entire life of this enterprising young business man is an open book to the people of Pekin; for here he was born May 16, 1877, and within sight of his present surroundings has developed from a healthy, careless and diversion-loving boy, into a practical and earnest student of business and general affairs. First at the preliminary, and later at the high school, he evinced a due regard for the boon of education, qualifying still further for his present activity at Brown’s Business College in Peoria. With this practical preparation he was taken into his father’s wholesale and retail coal and ice business at the age of twenty, and has since advanced to a firm membership and the position of shipping manager. The firm has an extensive patronage in Pekin and the surrounding country, and its correct business methods, fairness as to weights and quality, and dispatch in filling orders, insures indefinite continuation of its present prosperity. That Mr. Koch has not only made, but saved, money was apparent at the time of his marriage, October 9, 1901, when he moved into his beautiful modern residence on North Fourth Street. Mrs. Koch was formerly Katherine Knapp, born April 6. 1878, and her son, Gordon Colby, was born February 4, 1904. Mr. Koch is a member of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church, and contributes generously toward its maintenance. In politics he is a Republican, and is socially connected with the Tazewell Club. He represents the energy, progress and promise of the Middle West, and in his business, home and large circle of friends, finds the noblest incentive to a normal and happy life.
Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Tazewell County - page 1033