Harry K. Koch, Jr., age 77, of Denton, Texas, went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on June 18, 2021. He was born on February 29, 1944 (yes, leap year!) to Harry K. Koch, Sr., and Winifred Cheney Koch, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Harry graduated from Lansdowne-Aldan High School in Lansdowne, PA in 1963. After graduation he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served in Puerto Rico, Japan, Philippines, and Vietnam as well as stateside. After 4 years of service, he received an honorable discharge in 1967 and came to Denton to attend North Texas State University (now UNT). He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts Education in 1970 and a Master of Education in 1973.

Harry met Maribeth Brewer in 1963 at Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp in Colorado. They were married in Dallas, Texas, on June 22, 1968. They spent their honeymoon at Trail West, a Young Life family camp in Colorado and then returned in June,2008, to celebrate their 40 ^th wedding anniversary. They were blessed with three children: Montie, Heidi, and Heather.  His work experience included Sky Ranch Christian camps when the camp was located in Denton, a public school teacher in the Dallas ISD and Denton ISD for a combined 34 years, and founder, owner, and operator of Denton Lawn Sprinkler for 25 years.

Harry spent many years serving at First Baptist Church in Denton as a Deacon, Sunday School teacher, church league softball coach and Men's Ministry Director. He also went on mission trips with the church, including one to Haiti. One of his passions was being involved in Boy Scouts of America, as a child and adult. He was a Scoutmaster in Troop 140 at First Baptist and served as Roundtable Commissioner for many years in the Frontier Trails District. He was given several awards for his service in Scouting including the Frontier Trails District Award of Merit, Longhorn Council Silver Beaver, and the Baptist in Scouting Good Shepherd Award. He also earned Vigil in the Order of the Arrow BSA organization.  Harry also excelled at woodworking and enjoyed making model train displays. Family camping was always high on his list of favorite activities.

Harry and the family had great fun teasing him about being a leap year baby. He would say "I was only 6 when I got married" or "Well, now my children are older than I am."

Harry is survived by his wife of almost 53 years, Maribeth; son Montie Koch and wife Amy of Denton, their children Kelley, Josie, Eli and Jasmine; daughter Heidi Koch Bone and husband Wade of Cairo, GA, their children Joshua, Brooks, and Abigail; daughter Heather Koch West of Denton, stepdaughters Julie and Candra West. Harry enjoyed being Papaw to his grandchildren for as long as his health permitted, even taking them camping. He is also survived by his sister Nancy Zapf and husband Rich of Georgetown, MA, and his brother Rich and wife Gina of West Chester, PA.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Harry's memory be sent to Sky Ranch Christian camp, 7616 LBJ Freeway, Suite 500, Dallas, TX  75251. To donate online go to skyranch.org, click donate and specify in memory of Harry Koch.

A visitation will be held from 6-7:30pm on July 7, 2021, at Mulkey-Bowles-Montgomery Funeral Home. There will be a memorial service in the chapel at 7:30.