Obituary of Young-Hee Koch

Young Hee (Lee Ann) Koch died Tuesday, February 6, 2024. She died peacefully in the presence of family. Private memorial services will be held through the First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City.

Young Hee (Lee Ann) was born in Daegu, South Korea in 1936. She was the oldest of seven children of Won Sik and Ock Chul Lee. She graduated from Shin Myoung high school in 1955. That same year she came to the U.S. to attend Warren Wilson College where she earned an AA degree. She then enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines, where she met her husband, John Hollen Koch. They married at the Methodist Church in Adel, Iowa in 1959, then settled in Iowa City in 1960. They raised two children, Katherine and Karl. They moved to Williamsburg, Iowa in 2014, then returned to Iowa City in 2019 to be closer to family.

Young Hee was employed for 31 years as a technician in the UIHC immunopathology laboratory, where she made many life long friends. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Lions Club, 4 Seasons Garden Club, the church knitting group, and was an active volunteer through various other clubs and church programs. In her free time she enjoyed gardening, getting together with her work buddies, and spending time with family and friends.

Young Hee is survived by her children Katherine Lee Schallau (Steve) and Karl William Koch (Sherry), brothers and sisters Myung Hee Hyon (Peter), Debbie Kwon (Chris), Sae Myung Lee (Hannah), Sae Dong Lee, Annie Van Horn, and Sae Hyun Lee (Myung Hee), six grandchildren Stephanie Laketek (Greg), Tiffany Verbeke (Jared), Emily Huddleston (Lucas), Megan Smith, Ana Koch, and Samuel Koch, and four great-grandchildren Henry and Olivia Verbeke, Evelyn Laketek, and Owen Tyler.

Young Hee is preceded in death by her parents and her husband.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to The Bird House Hospice Home of Johnson County, Iowa City Hospice, Lions Club of Iowa City, and First Presbyterian Church of Iowa City.