At the time of his birth, the area was in East Prussia & called Koenigsberg & considered German. It was annexed into Russia after WWII. On his father's memorial, see the boyhood story of the family fleeing & surviving at the end of WWII, HERE...there are links at this link taking you to the memorials of grandparents & other kin.
Klaus is the original immigrant of this Koch family line to the United States. In August of 1953 (age 16/17), Klaus is listed in his passport as arriving in the harbor of New York City; but Klaus says that harbor was so jammed with ships that his ship was diverted to Hoboken, New Jersey. From there, he went to Groveland, Florida. He attended grade 12 in Groveland & played high school football as a tackle. He was a graduate from University of Fla. in 1958. Instead of learning to take over their orange groves farm, Klaus sensed the call into Christian ministry and went to seminary (Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary...1958-62), followed by internship at St. Johns LC, Knoxville (1960-61), graduating in 1962. He was ordained on 3 June 1962 at University Lutheran Church in Gainseville, Fla. About 1963, he began ministry with a year of missions work in Toronto. In 1963, he went as mission developer & organized St. Philip Church in Mt. Dora, Fla. He was then 25 years at (1971) St. Andrew in Petersburg, Fla. and then (1996) was for 5 years at Immanuel Lutheran in New Port Richey, Fla., retiring on 1 Feb, 2001 upon the finding of a very serious heart condition in his wife, Ann. So, they moved to Hulon Green in West Columbia, S. C. for a number of years. Then they moved to a graded retirement-home facility in Palm Harbor, Florida. Ann died suddenly in 2015 of her heart problem. Klaus joined with wife #4, Leona, in 2017.
See the memorials of the aunt & uncle family that Klaus lived with in Groveland Florida as a new immigrant teenager, HERE.
Klaus is the original immigrant of this Koch family line to the United States. In August of 1953 (age 16/17), Klaus is listed in his passport as arriving in the harbor of New York City; but Klaus says that harbor was so jammed with ships that his ship was diverted to Hoboken, New Jersey. From there, he went to Groveland, Florida. He attended grade 12 in Groveland & played high school football as a tackle. He was a graduate from University of Fla. in 1958. Instead of learning to take over their orange groves farm, Klaus sensed the call into Christian ministry and went to seminary (Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary...1958-62), followed by internship at St. Johns LC, Knoxville (1960-61), graduating in 1962. He was ordained on 3 June 1962 at University Lutheran Church in Gainseville, Fla. About 1963, he began ministry with a year of missions work in Toronto. In 1963, he went as mission developer & organized St. Philip Church in Mt. Dora, Fla. He was then 25 years at (1971) St. Andrew in Petersburg, Fla. and then (1996) was for 5 years at Immanuel Lutheran in New Port Richey, Fla., retiring on 1 Feb, 2001 upon the finding of a very serious heart condition in his wife, Ann. So, they moved to Hulon Green in West Columbia, S. C. for a number of years. Then they moved to a graded retirement-home facility in Palm Harbor, Florida. Ann died suddenly in 2015 of her heart problem. Klaus joined with wife #4, Leona, in 2017.
See the memorials of the aunt & uncle family that Klaus lived with in Groveland Florida as a new immigrant teenager, HERE.
At the time of his birth, the area was in East Prussia & called Koenigsberg & considered German. It was annexed into Russia after WWII. On his father's memorial, see the boyhood story of the family fleeing & surviving at the end of WWII, HERE...there are links at this link taking you to the memorials of grandparents & other kin.
Klaus is the original immigrant of this Koch family line to the United States. In August of 1953 (age 16/17), Klaus is listed in his passport as arriving in the harbor of New York City; but Klaus says that harbor was so jammed with ships that his ship was diverted to Hoboken, New Jersey. From there, he went to Groveland, Florida. He attended grade 12 in Groveland & played high school football as a tackle. He was a graduate from University of Fla. in 1958. Instead of learning to take over their orange groves farm, Klaus sensed the call into Christian ministry and went to seminary (Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary...1958-62), followed by internship at St. Johns LC, Knoxville (1960-61), graduating in 1962. He was ordained on 3 June 1962 at University Lutheran Church in Gainseville, Fla. About 1963, he began ministry with a year of missions work in Toronto. In 1963, he went as mission developer & organized St. Philip Church in Mt. Dora, Fla. He was then 25 years at (1971) St. Andrew in Petersburg, Fla. and then (1996) was for 5 years at Immanuel Lutheran in New Port Richey, Fla., retiring on 1 Feb, 2001 upon the finding of a very serious heart condition in his wife, Ann. So, they moved to Hulon Green in West Columbia, S. C. for a number of years. Then they moved to a graded retirement-home facility in Palm Harbor, Florida. Ann died suddenly in 2015 of her heart problem. Klaus joined with wife #4, Leona, in 2017.
See the memorials of the aunt & uncle family that Klaus lived with in Groveland Florida as a new immigrant teenager, HERE.
Klaus is the original immigrant of this Koch family line to the United States. In August of 1953 (age 16/17), Klaus is listed in his passport as arriving in the harbor of New York City; but Klaus says that harbor was so jammed with ships that his ship was diverted to Hoboken, New Jersey. From there, he went to Groveland, Florida. He attended grade 12 in Groveland & played high school football as a tackle. He was a graduate from University of Fla. in 1958. Instead of learning to take over their orange groves farm, Klaus sensed the call into Christian ministry and went to seminary (Lutheran Southern Theological Seminary...1958-62), followed by internship at St. Johns LC, Knoxville (1960-61), graduating in 1962. He was ordained on 3 June 1962 at University Lutheran Church in Gainseville, Fla. About 1963, he began ministry with a year of missions work in Toronto. In 1963, he went as mission developer & organized St. Philip Church in Mt. Dora, Fla. He was then 25 years at (1971) St. Andrew in Petersburg, Fla. and then (1996) was for 5 years at Immanuel Lutheran in New Port Richey, Fla., retiring on 1 Feb, 2001 upon the finding of a very serious heart condition in his wife, Ann. So, they moved to Hulon Green in West Columbia, S. C. for a number of years. Then they moved to a graded retirement-home facility in Palm Harbor, Florida. Ann died suddenly in 2015 of her heart problem. Klaus joined with wife #4, Leona, in 2017.
See the memorials of the aunt & uncle family that Klaus lived with in Groveland Florida as a new immigrant teenager, HERE.
Family Members
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