Janice Marie (Fitzgerald) Koch

Janice Marie Koch

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and dear friend;

Janice Marie (Fitzgerald) Koch, 82, of Pelham, NH, passed away peacefully at her home, Monday January 14, 2019, surrounded by her loving and devoted children.

She was the beloved wife for 48 years of the late Richard H. Koch.

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, May 5, 1936, a daughter of the late William B. and the late Cecelia A. (Gerry) Fitzgerald, she was a graduate of Immaculate Conception Girl’s Catholic High School (nka Malden Catholic).

A longtime and active communicant of St. Patrick Church in Pelham, she was most recently a volunteer for the Divine Mercy Chaplet to pray for those who are gravely ill and was a former member of the Pelham Good Neighbor Fund.

As a child, she loved paper dolls and animals and always dreamed of being a mother. These aspirations came to fruition in her life as she raised her own family and was a foster parent to many children. She was warmly looked upon as a surrogate mother to many of her children’s friends, as well as her nieces and nephews.  Children were the highlight of her life. Her home was the gathering place to be, always loud with her own children and neighborhood children who came to laugh, talk, joke, seek advice or just hang out. She was in the spotlight, giving endless love, support and encouragement to all.  In her past, she worked on the State of New Hampshire’s Governors Council for Laws Affecting Children of which she was very proud.  Whenever out and about, there was never a child that she wouldn’t reach out to, to pat their little hand, give a smile and a wink and say “God Bless You.”

She and her husband had a family farm which she enjoyed for many years; gardening, canning vegetables, cutting hay and raising cattle and chickens along with having many dogs. Up until three years ago, she also worked as a bookkeeper for her family business; American Cryotech.  

The foundation of her family and a pillar of faith with a special devotion to the Blessed Mother, she was fiercely independent, infinitely loving, kind, smart, witty, sassy and generous to a fault.  She gave constant words of wisdom and endless good advice. If you had a question to ask, she would remind you to be ready for an honest answer.

Janice Marie enjoyed reading, Find A Word puzzles, watching cooking shows and Judge Judy (With whom she shared a very similar, feisty and no-nonsense personality).  She was also an avid fan of the Patriots, Bruins and Nascar.  She also loved spending time with her daughter and son-in-law on Parker Pond in Maine, listening to the loons and marveling at the beauty and peace of nature.

She was the rock of her family with her biggest lessons being to love God and one another, and to always be kind to one another.

Janice Marie is survived by two daughters Anne E. Holden of Pelham and Kathleen L. Noviello and her husband Robert of Windham, NH; a son Nathaniel R. Koch and his wife Lori of Hollis, NH; five grandchildren Adam R. Koch and his companion Erica Vikman of Pelham, Joseph G. Holden of Dracut, Katherine E. Beaudoin and her husband Brian of Manchester, NH, Samuel D. Koch and Thomas H. Koch both of Hollis, NH; three sisters Cecelia A. Drever and her husband Frank of Troy, NY, Wilma A. Pappalardo and her husband Joseph of West Yarmouth and Mary Jo Fitzgerald of Seattle, WA; a brother William B. Fitzgerald, II of Port St. Lucie, FL; and many nieces and nephews.

She was also the mother of the late Stephen R. Koch; grandmother of the late Benjamin N. Koch and was predeceased by her three sisters Gertrude M. Fitzgerald, Ruth M. DeFeo and Anne E. Freeman.

Her enormous, bright, beautiful, loving, generous, kind and faithful spirit was an inspiration to all who knew her.  There are no words to express the impact she had on those who knew her,  nor to convey the profound loss we will now have to endure

Goodnight and God bless you dear Mama, and may you rest in abundant beautiful peace.

Friends may call at the PELHAM FUNERAL HOME 11 NASHUA RD. in PELHAM from 5 to 8 P.M. Monday January 21, 2019. Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Funeral Mass to be celebrated Tuesday morning at ST. PATRICK CHURCH in PELHAM at 10 o’clock followed by burial in the North Pelham Cemetery. E-condolences/directions at www.pelhamfuneralhome.com.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1893, Memphis, TN, 38101 or St. Patrick Parish, 12 Main St., Pelham, NH, 03076. Arrangements by Funeral Director James F. O’Donnell, Jr. (603) 635-3333.   

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