Emma Alice Koch, daughter of Henry and Caroline Granneman Koch, was born October 6, 1914, near Hawkeye in rural Fayette County, Iowa. She was baptized December 27, 1914, and confirmed March 24, 1929, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hawkeye. Emma graduated from Hawkeye High School in 1933, and from Gates Business College in Waterloo.

            Emma was employed as a bookkeeper and secretary at Waterloo Tile and Marble and Hurwich Furniture for many years prior to retiring in 1980. A Waterloo resident for many years, she moved to Sumner on November 1, 1998.

            Emma was a resident of the Hillcrest Home in Sumner where her death occurred Thursday, May 5, 2011. She was 96 years old and a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner. Emma also was an associate member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Waterloo, her longtime church home.

            She is survived by one sister, Alice Koester of Sumner, and twelve nieces and nephews, Carolyn (Jim) Weber, Donald (Ramona) Koch, Elaine (Larry) Anderson, Dorothy (Gene) Hoth, Dennis (Janette) Koch, Jim (LaVonne) Koch, Lorraine (Steve) Sindelar, Ellen Bob) Helming, Arlene (Leon) Soppe, Bill (Cheryl) Koch, Stan (Lois) Koester, and Myron Koester

            Emma was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Walter and Fred Koch, and two brothers who died in infancy; one sister, Vernita Fischer; and a niece, Sondra Opps.

         Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, May 9, 2011 at St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner with Rev. William Runaas, Jr. and Rev. Norman Stubbendick officiating. Interment will follow at Union Mound Cemetery in Sumner.  Friends may call from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, May 8, 2011, at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the church on Monday. Memorials may be made in Emma’s name to either the Hillcrest Home or St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner, or to Trinity Lutheran Church in Waterloo.