Rosemary B. Koch, 91, of De Soto died Sept. 17, 2022, at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City. Mrs. Koch taught in the De Soto and Kingston school districts and at St. Rose of Lima Catholic School. She was a member of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, where she served as a eucharistic minister and visited nursing homes and shut-ins as a member of the Daughters of Isabella. She also was a member of the Amvets Post 48 Auxiliary, the Biv Whackers Camping Club and was the president of the Jefferson County Squares. Born Sept. 25, 1930, in St. Louis, she was the daughter of the late Katherine (Miller) and William A. Burke.
She is survived by her husband: Herman J. “Dutch” Koch, whom she married Dec. 1, 1951, at the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church; two daughters: Sharon Anne (the late Jim) Koch McKee of Muskogee, Okla., and Sandra Marie (Darick) Koch James of De Soto; three grandchildren: Jeffery, Kathryn and Jason McKee; seven great-grandchildren: Gatlan and Trinity Nail, Ava, Raegan and Stella McKee, Marlee Dell and Ava Carlson; and a brother: Walter L. “Green Eyes” Burke of De Soto.
She was preceded in death by four sisters: Dorothy Gibbons Cawalendar, Katherine Gibbons Thompson, Lorene Gibbons Hawn and Evelyn Burke; and two brothers: William Burke and James Gibbons.
Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Dietrich-Mothershead Funeral Home, 220 N. Main St., in De Soto. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 504 S. Third St., in De Soto, officiated by Father Alexander Anderson. Burial will be at the Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum in De Soto. Arrangements are under the direction of Dietrich-Mothershead Funeral Home.