Fay (Herring) Madison - Koch |
| Posted 2008-06-19 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, March 28, 2004 Fay Herring Koch, age 94, entered into eternal peace March 25, 2004. She was born Sept. 4,1909, in Lometa, Texas, daughter of Lee W. and Pearl (Reed) Herring. Fay moved from Texas with her family, residing in Bisbee and Jerome, where her father was a miner, and in Chino Valleya nd Prescott, where he farmed and raised hogs. He later owned a goat ranch up the Senator Highway. Fay and her younger sister, Frances, milked dozens of goats every morning, then walked two miles down Mt. Vernon Street to school. She remembered sledding down Pleasant Street when there was no traffic, and traveling to Chino Valley in a buckboard. She attended Washington Elementary School -"I wore out many a pair of black sateen bloomers on that playground" - and was a member of the Prescott High School Class of 1928. She met her first husband, golf professional Frank C. Madison, in an evening typing class in Phoenix in 1929. They spent several seasons running the golf club in Van Wert, Ohio, and she quickly became a championship player and lover of the game. After his untimely death in 1940, she worked for the war effort as a security guard at the Oakland Naval Shipyard in California. Returning to Prescott, she became a stenographer at the Ft. Whipple Veterans Hospital. She met arid married her second husband, Gordon Koch, in 1946. They owned and operated a number of local businesses, including the Western Ranch Store, where she was a familiar face for some 20 years. She enjoyed 42 years of marriage to Koch, who passed away in 1988. Fay was happiest when working alongside her husbands, whether playing golf, hunting birds, selling boots, or stocking shelves. She will be remembered most for her prifailing strength and optimism in the face of adversity. Fay also possessed a dry Texas humor, skill in the kitchen, and an incredible green thumb. She is survived by two daughters, Nancy Leber Madison of Colusa, Calif., and Kitty Koch Smith of Prescott, and a sister, Lillian Long of Norwalk, Calif. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husbands, Frank C. Madison and Gordon Koch, and by two siblings, Prances Fisher and Kenneth Herring. The family wishes to extend gratitude beyond expression to the staff at the Willow Wind Residence, Fay's home for the last three years. They loved and cared for her with compassion and tenderness. They also extend their thanks and appreciation to Mary Hernandez and the staff of the YRMC Hospice, and to Rev. William Guise, at the First Congregational Church. A Memorial Service celebrating the life of Fay will be held Monday, March 29, at 10 a.m., at the First Congregational Church, with Rev. William Guise officiating. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made in Kay's name to YRMC Hospice, P.O. Box 26565, Prescott Valley, AZ 86312-6565, or Willow Wind Residence, 3191 Aster Drive, Prescott, AZ 86305. Hampton Funeral Home was entrusted with the arrangements. Information provided by survivors. |
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