DEPAUL KOCH

"I have run the race and fought the good fight." These words of St. Paul were appropriated by DePaul. After 89 years of Life, 66 of which were in marriage to Bernadette, Paul died peacefully on Saturday, May 8, 2004. De Paul was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin on February 27, 1915, son of the late Michael and Phoebe (Stoneman) Koch. De Paul is survived by his wife, Bernadette; his children: Kathleen (Tom) Netzel, Newton, Iowa; Fr. David Koch, Neenah; Barbara (Michael) Hughes, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Ann (George) Giorgianni, Alpharetta, Georgia; Mary Walker, McAllen, Texas; Margaret (Kevin) Sullivan, Pleasant Valley, New York; Jane (David ) Ralls, Reva, Virginia; 17 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; 4 sisters, and 2 brothers. Paul was preceded in death by 3 sisters and 2 brothers. A private memorial service was held. A family reunion will celebrate De Paul's life this summer. The family is very grateful to all at Franciscan Care and Rehabilitation Center for their gentle and compassionate care given De Paul during the past twenty months.
Obituary notice posted on line by WICHMANN FUNERAL HOME, 537 North Superior Street, Appleton 927-739-1231
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Holy Family Memorial
A Century of caring
Vincent & DePaul Koch look towards new century.
While Holy Family Hospital admitted its first patient on September 29 , 1899, it wasn't until about 10 years later that Manitowoc County women began delivering babies at the hospital on a routine basis.
It was on February 27, 1915, that the oldest living persons known to be born at the hospital came into this world.
Ironically, they are twins--Vincent and DePaul Koch. These 84-year-old gentleman were born 10 minutes apart with Vincent arriving first, to Michael and Phoebe (Stoneman) Koch from Mishicot. They were delivered by Dr. C. M. Gleason.
Michael was 21 and a farmer at that time while Phoebe was 20 and a housewife. The Koch's address was listed as Manitowoc; perhaps that is because that is where the twins were born rather than where the family lived.
These twin brothers haven't strayed far from their birthplace. Vincent lives in Sheboygan Falls and DePaul in Menasha. Vincent recalled his mother saying the Sisters said they were the first twins to leave the hospital alive. Phoebe had been hospitalized during her pregnancy because she was quite sick.
The twins were small and not expected to live. Sr. Vincentine, the delivery nurse, decided the babies needed to be baptized. However, Phoebe and Michael had not yet chosen names for their sons.
This didn't deter Sr. Vincentine. She baptized them, naming the oldest Vincent and his younger twin brother DePaul. Mother and twins were in the hospital for about two months before returning to the family farm, adjacent to where Fox Hills is now located.
Phoebe and Michael had 11 children, all born at Holy Family Hospital. Vincent and his wife had six children, five born at Holy Family while the youngest was born at St. St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan. DePaul and his wife had seven children all of whom were born at Holy Family.
The twins were honored at Holy Family Memorial's 100th anniversary held on September 24th at the Holiday Inn. (3 photographs not included with this entry.)

Contributor: GornyLuka (48643104)

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FAMILY/PARENTING GUIDE
Twins oldest living of babies born at Manitowoc hospital
Baptized at Holy Family, Koch brothers, now 84, had not been expected to live

By Joanne Flemming
Compass correspondent

Thanks to an appeal in "The Compass" earlier this year, Holy Family Memorial Hospital in Manitowoc has located the oldest living baby born in the hospital. As an added bonus, that honor goes to twins.
Vincent and DePaul Koch were born on Feb. 27, 115. Now 84, DePaul lives in Menasha and Vincent lives in Sheboygan Falls. Their parents were Michael and Phoebe Stoneman Koch of Mishicot.
According to Vincent, his father, Michael, 21, was a farmer and Phoebe, 20, was a housewife. Their home was an 80-acre farm near the present-day Fox Hills. His mother was hospitalized about two months before their birth because she was sick during her pregnancy, Vincent added.
Dr. C. M. Gleason delivered the boys 10 minutes apart. Vincent, weighing four pounds was born a 7:30 p.m. Four and a half pound DePaul came at 7:40 p.m. Because the babies were so small and not expected to live, Sr. Vincentine, the delivery nurse, decided to baptize them. The parents hadn't picked out names yet, so Sr. Vincentine, a member of hte Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity which sponsors the hospital, named them after her patron saint. The oldest became Vincent and the ymungest, DePaul.
Phoebe remained hospitalized for another two months before she took her children home.
Vincent said that there is no record of the bill for their stay."How Father paid (it), I don't know but he paid everything."
Vincent and DePaul were the first of 11 children , and the oldest of four boys. One of the other two is Fr. Michael Koch, who serves as chaplain for the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in Oshkosh. The Kochs also adopted a first cousin, Elmer, after his mother died.
Mary Jane Geiger, the twins' younger sister, remember the family as "being real close (if) one needed help, we all helped each other."
"Dad was a motivator," Vincent said. "He motivated everybody."
Besides farmily, Michael sold Catholic Knights' insurance and even s sponsored a baseball team.
Mary Jane recalls her mother as easygoing and hardworking. "She never complained. She said,
"We all have our crosses to bear in life. Never grumble about the cross you have to carry." She also credited her ability to raise her 12 children to her devotion to Mary.
Fr. David Koch, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Neenah, says his father, DePaul, likes to reminisce about life on the farm. The priest has heard him describe how wind whistled through the cracks in he house in winter. He talks about the fun times as well, like sleeping in the barn in summer.
Vincent and DePaul attended Holy Cross School in Mishicot. Their sister remembers their mother calling them "regular renegades." When asked what she meant, Phoebe replied: ""when they were in school, you couldn't tell them apart, and they'd drive the teachers out of their minds. They were in so much mischief."
The boys later attended Mishicot High School But before they could enroll, Vincent said they and other Catholic school students were required to take tests at the courthouse.
Two other Koch children were in the same high school class with the twins: Elmer and Eva, their oldest sister. All four graduated in 1933. The three boys played basketball in high school.
Vincent and DePaul went to work inn a dairy. Later, at 22, Vincent managed a grocery store. The two held similar jobs all their lives. DePaul worked 45 years as a plant manager for the same company in Wisconsin and other states. Vincent ended up as an occupational manager with McKesson Corporation.
DePaul and his wife, Bernadette, had seven children, all born at Holy Family. Vincent and his first wife, Rita, had six. The first five were born at Holy Family, the youngest was born in Sheboygan. Rita died a year later. Her sister, Eileen was a nurse and helped out with the children. Vincent later married her.
Sr. Donna Koch, who works at the Norbertine Spirituality Center in DePere, calls her father, Vincent, "a man of great faith and trust in God.' He still enjoys delivering weekly homilies to his children, she added.
Mary Jane says that people can now tell the twins apart by the personalities. She described Vincent as "happy-go-lucky" and DePaul as more serious.
DePaul summarized his philosophy : " I take life as it comes. If there is joy involved, we enjoyed it. If there is sorrow, we go along with it, too"
The Compass, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Nov. 5, 1999 p. 4-A