Among Pekin’s most prominent businessmen and community leaders of days gone by was Otto Koch (1849-1928), a German immigrant who settled in Pekin in 1869 and made his fortune in the ice harvesting and coal businesses. Otto Koch was the co-founder of the W. A. Boley Ice Company that used to harvest the ice of Pekin Lake every winter and ship it by rail across the country. He also served as president of the Union Ice & Coal Co. of Rock Island, Illinois, as well as director of the Pekin Loan & Homestead Association, and was owner of Woodard’s Hotel in downtown Pekin. Otto Koch was also active in several local service clubs, including Kiwanis, the Elks, and the old Tazewell Club.
A biographical sketch of Otto Koch’s life was included in Ben C. Allensworth’s 1905 “History of Tazewell County,” page 1034, as follows:
“Otto Koch was born in Germany, July 15, 1849, and received his education in the schools of his native country. His parents, Andres S. and Mary (Moll) Koch, were also born in Germany. Mr. Koch came to the United States and settled in Peoria, July 16, 1868, and there secured employment in a brewery, retaining that position for four months. He then went to St. Louis, where he was employed by a railroad company, still later going to Greencastle. In September, 1869, he came to Pekin and for eighteen months worked for Lewis Birkenbusch. In 1887, in company with Mr. W. A. Boley, he formed an ice company, which was incorporated under the State laws in March, 1888, as the W. A. Boley Ice Company. Mr. Koch was made Treasurer of the company on its organization, and on the death of Mr. Boley, in 1895, became President and General Manager of the concern; a position which he still holds; is also President of the Union Ice & Coal Company of Rock Island. The company is the largest of its kind in Illinois outside of the City of Chicago, its houses at Pekin having a storage capacity of about 50,000 tons. The company manages the ice trade, while Mr. Koch and his son conduct the coal trade. Mr. Koch is a member of the Pekin Lodge No. 18, D. O. H., and of the Tazewell Club, and is a director of the Pekin Loan & Homestead Association. He was married at Peoria, Ill., December 28, 1871, to Miss Ida Sparry (sic), who was born April 13, 1850, and to them have been born five children: Lena, Henry, Anna, Ottilea and Albert.”
Otto Koch died at home of cancer of the esophagus at the age of 78 on 23 Feb. 1928, and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery. Here is the full text of his obituary, which ran on the front page of the Pekin Daily Times on the evening of the day of his death:
“Otto Koch Dies Suddenly At His Home This Noon
“The city will learn with regret that Otto Koch died at 12:20 this afternoon.
“The fibrous tentacles of a cancer had had its grip on his throat for months and threatening his life; but he seemed to be holding his own well enough that he was brought home from the St. Francis hospital yesterday after a six-weeks stay, and he was in good spirits last night and planned to be about the downstairs in a wheel chair today.
“Then suddenly at noon today one of the fingers of the cancer cut a blood vessel and the end came almost at once.
“Mr. Koch was taken ill last August with cancer of the esophagus — a most distressing location for such a malignant growth for it is through this canal that food and drink pass to the stomach. With remarkable courage he withstood the disease, although he knew from the first there was no hope of escape.
“This noon he sensed that something had gone wrong — that his lungs seemed to be filling up. ‘Get Dr. Glasford right away,’ he advised. But it was no use. The end came the day after he had come back from the hospital in joyous reunion with the wife with whom he had traveled life’s pathway for over 55 years.
“Otto Koch was born July 15, 1849, at Bollschweil, Baden, Germany. As a youth in Germany he learned the shoemaker’s trade, then when 19 years old he left his family and pushed westward across the sea to the new world, landing at St. Louis then coming up to Peoria where he stayed a year before coming to Pekin. He used to recall how he came to Pekin with fifty cents in his pocket. By hard work and shrewdness he attained a considerable fortune.
“When he was 23 he heard that a girl whom he used to know and admire in the old country was coming to Peoria. He lost no time, and after an engagement of three weeks he wed Miss Ida Sperry, December 29, 1872. She is now 77 years old and survives Mr. Koch, but she has suffered three strokes and her condition now is extremely feeble.
“Children of this union are: Mrs. W. E. (Lena) Schurman; Henry B. Koch; Mrs. Frank A. (Anna) Velde; Mrs. James P. (Otillia) St. Cerny; Albert C. Koch. All are of Pekin except Albert, who lives at Evanston. Grandchildren who will greatly miss their grandparents are: Margaret Edward and Hermine Schurman; Gordon, Marion and Otto Koch; Idaleen and Frederick Velde; James St. Cerny Jr.; Carl and Elizabeth Koch. And there is one great-grandchild, just four days old — little Minta Margaret Koch, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Koch. A sister, Albertine, also survives in Germany.
“Mr. Koch was one of Pekin’s best known citizens. He was a member of the Tazewell, Kiwanis, Elks, and Country club and his loss will be keenly felt in the city in which he had been part of the social and financial life for nearly 70.”
Koch Street on the south side of Pekin is named in memory of Otto Koch and his family.
