Doris Hagen (Hagen) Koch

Doris was born August 17th, 1924 to Carl and Agnes Hagen in Starbuck, Minnesota and died in Hamilton, MT on October 26th, 2017. She attended country school for the first 8 grades, then attended St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN for 1 year and finally transferred to the University of Minnesota to graduate.

Doris met her future husband, Peter Koch in Seattle, WA while working at the National Bank of Commerce.  They were married at Barsness Lutheran Church in Glenwood, MN on October 8th, 1950.  For their honeymoon, they flew a single engine airplane down the heart of the Mexican Sierras to Mexico City.  In the course of married life, Doris and Peter lived in Bellevue WA, East Lansing Michigan, Rochester NH, and Alexandria LA before moving to Corvallis MT, where they owned a research lab working mainly on Lodgepole pine.

Throughout her marriage to Peter and then after his death, Doris traveled a great deal.  Some of the places she traveled together with Peter were to South America, New Zealand, Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, and China, much of Africa, parts of Europe, Turkey, Bali, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. According to Doris, these travels made for many scary and exciting adventures.  After Peter's death in 1998, Doris continued to travel back to Norway and China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, around South America and Russia.  She enjoyed seeing how other people in the world lived.

Doris always volunteered at hospitals and other organizations.  For nearly 20 years, she was a volunteer at the Veteran's hospital, as well as with the Red Cross in Pineville, LA.  She also volunteered at Frisbee Memorial in Rochester, NH and Marcus Daly in Hamilton, MT.  Doris unselfishly gave of her time for Friends of the Alexandria Zoo (FOTAZ) which was dedicated to the support, promotion and improvement of the Zoo.  She also served as its President for 2 years. More recently, Doris was a longtime member of Faith Lutheran Church in Hamilton MT, as well as a volunteer for the Bitterroot Public Library.

Doris leaves behind a beloved sister, Bernice Harris of The Dalles OR, along with several nieces and nephews and their families.

A memorial service in Doris' honor will be held at Faith Lutheran Church in Hamilton, MT on Saturday November 18th at 1 p.m. 

The family wishes that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Faith Lutheran Church, the Bitterroot Library or a favorite charity of your choice.