Joseph Koch

Joseph “Joey” Daniel Koch passed away on June 11, 2026, at the age of 42 in Missoula, Montana.

Joey was born on October 16, 1983, at Swedish Medical Center to Beth and Jeff Koch while they lived in Denver Colorado. His sister Jennifer came along in 1986. The family moved to Missoula, Montana in May of 1987.

Beth and Jeff searched for their family home and decided to buy 10 acres in Potomac, Montana. They moved in January 1988 when there was 2 feet of snow on the ground. Joe and Jen loved to ride bikes and sled down the steep driveway in front of the house. It kept them busy until they were old enough to find a bigger hill down the road for sledding. Joey grudgingly helped take care of the chickens, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, sheep, cats, and occasional dogs the family raised on their 10 acres.

He attended Potomac School for kindergarten through eighth grade and loved sports, playing baseball, basketball, football, and running track. Joey played basketball, his real love, at Hellgate High School until his sophomore year, where he tore his ACL. He recovered, but never got back to where he was before that injury.

When he was recovering, he would often visit a park that featured a lot of pickup games. There was one guy in particular to whom Joey would offer his “coaching”. He would ‘chirp’ at him that he needed to keep his elbow in on his jumper and other tips. Although these helpful ‘tips’ might have grated on the boy, they became fast friends. This boy was Chris Frost. They stayed close through thick and thin, leading to the friendship that spanned decades.

The love for sports never let up, transferring to an intense knowledge of statistics and random trivia about all of his teams. His number one was the University of Montana Grizzlies. He was an avid Griz fan from a young age. He would frequently say how ‘sorry’ he was to those friends who had the misfortune of being a Cat fan. Some of his favorite memories were when he got to go to the Grizzlies’ National Championship football games with his dad, mom, sister, and Chris.

Another pastime that he enjoyed was golfing with his Grandpa Gil at the Missoula County Country Club. These times, although they might seem small to some, established big life lessons for Joe, shaping him into the man he became.

Joe was a 2002 graduate of Hellgate High School. After high school, he attended the University of Montana for one semester. College wasn’t the right fit for Joe, so on a whim, Jen decided to put in an application at a resort in Big Sky for Joe. He got the job and moved to Big Sky to work at the resort for two years. After that stop, his sobriety journey started on Star Wars day in 2006 (May 4). His sobriety was one of his most significant achievements, celebrating 20 years sober this May.

Joe started working at the Crowne Plaza in Billings, where he had a few interesting run-ins with some famous (or infamous) people. While on room service duty late one night, he was requested to attend to a food issue at a room of a high-profile guest. He wasn’t sure whose room he was going to, but he went up being his cheery, happy-go-lucky self. When he knocked on the door, it opened to a cranky Brit who said, “These F#$@in’ grapes are moldy!!”. Then the guest proceeded to throw a bunch of grapes at Joe and slammed the door in his face. As Joe stood there, shocked, he whispered, “Was that Ozzy Osborne?”. And by gosh, it was!! He also had the opportunity to meet Kevin Durant, which really was a joy for the sports fan side of him.

In 2011, Joe met the love of his life, Cassie, on a long lost dating app called ‘Plenty-O-Fish’. Joe always said how else was a sober guy supposed to meet a charming woman if not on an app. They started their first date with a high five, and the rest was history. Joe asked Cassie to be his forever in Hawaii the only way a guy knows how, by asking his little sister Jen to plan the whole thing! Cassie of course said “YES!!” after asking to please have the blindfold taken off. They were married in a hailstorm (with the welts to prove it) on August 10, 2013.

In 2014, Joe and Cassie started their life in Missoula, both working for Beth at Equity Management. Then Joe’s life changed forever on January 17, 2015. That was the day he became a dad. He loved Samual with his whole heart. He loved to talk sports, memorize statistics, collect trading cards, watch Sam play sports as well as coach anything he wanted to play. He was able to coach both Sam’s football and basketball teams, as well as serve on the Missoula Youth Football Association as a board member. If you had time and an ear, Joe would tell you a story about Sam and his many accolades in soccer, football, or basketball. And when it came to competition at the Koch household, Sam only liked to play against dad, because mom always cheated!

After becoming well established as a boy dad, his life changed once again on February 8, 2020, when he became wrapped around his little girl Eliza Wynn’s finger. He loved to go adventuring with her, was always surprised by her many antics, but loved everything she did. He even could be caught in the hair salon getting Eliza all dolled up – just because. In the family one-on-one games, Eliza always liked to be the score keeper, a job that she took very seriously.

Joe was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather Gilbert George Koch, maternal grandfathers Leonard Alfred Wiedmier and Russell Earl Brandt, and his maternal uncle William Russell Brandt.

Joe is survived by his loving wife, Cassie (Mury) Koch and their children, Samual Joseph and Eliza Wynn; his paternal grandmother, Marlene Koch; his maternal grandmother, Patricia Wiedmier; his parents, Jeffrey and Elizabeth Koch; his sister Jennifer (Tyrell) Whipple; niece, Harleigh; nephews, Hayden, Tanner and Trevor. Numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family members, and many friends who became like family.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, June 27, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. The Service will be Saturday, June 27 at 12:00 pm at Garden City Funeral Home with Jeffrey Koch presiding over the service. The graveside service will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery. The Still Room Restaurant (1609 W Broadway St) will host the reception from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. In honor of Joe's lifelong love for the Griz, guests are invited to wear maroon and silver if they feel so inclined.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Salgi Esophageal Cancer Research Foundation. The family would like to thank the caring people at Community Medical Center and Hope Hospice House for the compassionate care they provided throughout Joe's treatment, as well as all of the family and friends who supported them during this difficult time.