Volume 1, No. 17. September 21, 2001
(Photo of A young Bill and Pat Koch with Will and Krist in the winter of 1964i. Photo courtesy of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari)
William Albert Koch, 1915-2001
Visiting the home of Bill and Pat
Koch in Santa Claus, Indiana, one can't help noticing the hallway lined with
family photographs on the wall. It's a gallery like that in so many other houses
around the world, a home-grown hall of fame. This one, however, is especially
notable for the quintet of success obviously emanating from the frames: the
youngest, Natalie, earning her Masters of Business Administration degree at
Purdue University; Kristi, a neurologist in Indianapolis; Daniel, a lawyer in
Miami, Florida; Philip, general manager of the Koch's Lake Rudolph Campground
and R.V. Resort; and Will, president and CEO of Holiday World and Splashin'
Safari, the theme park founded as Santa Claus Land by Bill's father, Louis Koch,
and developed into one of the industry's most lionized operations by Bill himself.
Of all the achievements that crowd his résumé—ranging from
Holiday World to his success at routing interstates through his beloved southern
Indiana homeland—it is the family that emerges as the true legacy of Bill
Koch, who died Monday of complications stemming from an apparent stroke. He
was 86.
"I think what Bill, along with the whole Koch family, has brought to the amusement
industry more than anything else is a sense of integrity," said Janice Witherow,
public relations manager at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. She grew up in Santa
Claus and started her own amusement park career with six summers working at
Holiday World during her high school and college years. "I couldn't be more
proud to say that's where I first got interested in this wonderful industry
of ours. It's a small family-owned park; that is what defines Holiday World.
Once you walk through that gate, you can feel that sense of family."
Witherow remembers Bill Koch walking the midways of the park. He always wore
a suit with a tie, always looked distinguished, always exuded an air of respect.
He also was always approachable, always friendly. Almost to the end he was taking
these midway strolls, still immaculately dressed, still greeting guests and
employees, and usually accompanied by Pat. "I once asked him why he doesn't
say 'I love you' to me anymore," his wife of 40 years recalled. "He said, 'What
I told you when I married you still stands until I say otherwise.'" That so
succinctly sums up the man who personified equal parts humor, dignity, warmth,
loyalty, and humility.
Last night for Mr. Koch's visitation, Holiday World's Marketing Director Paula
Werne put together four posterboards containing photographs, articles and memorabilia
of Bill Koch's life. One was devoted to Santa Claus Land, one to Holiday World,
one to his civic achievements and one to his family life. Will, seeing the posterboards,
suggested they be placed so that people would have something to peruse while
waiting in line to pay their last respects to his father. Even at a moment like
this, Will was thinking of queue theming. Bill Koch would be proud.