Meet Your Neighbor: At 104, Myrtle Koch still helping out her community

FREMONT — It took COVID restrictions to slow centenarian Myrtle Koch down.

Precautions against the virus forced her to retire after volunteering for over 30 years at ProMedica Memorial Hospital, and, just to be safe, she doesn’t go out as much as she used to.

But even a worldwide pandemic couldn’t stop Koch completely. When she turned 104 on Oct. 13, she had to make sure her drivers license hadn’t expired, because she still drives herself when she does want to go out.

Koch, who was born in Clyde in 1917, lived through two world wars and two worldwide flu pandemics. At the time of her birth, America was engaged in World War I and was a year from enduring the catastrophic Spanish flu and a dozen years away from entering the Great Depression.

Koch was just 12 when the Great Depression shuttered the economy and impoverished many Americans virtually overnight, yet she said she didn’t feel its effects at her home on Maple Street.

WALTER THE DOG:Walter gets second chance at a happy life

'We thought it was a joke,' she says about hearing of the Pearl Harbor attack

My dad always had a big garden, and he’d tell me to take food to people and don’t take money. He said it was food we can’t use,” she said.

Koch was too young to have memories of the Spanish Flu’s effects on her family, but she clearly remembers the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that encouraged America’s entrance into World War II.

“We walked into my mother’s house in Clyde, and it came on the radio. We thought it was a joke. People thought it wasn’t possible,” she said.

Koch’s late husband, Bernard “Bud” Koch, was a guard at Union Carbide during the war. He patrolled the Fremont factory to ensure its safety against enemy sabotage.

“At the time, they made batteries for the Navy,” Koch said. “Every factory, when we got in the war, would have people doing guard duty. Lots of people were doing things during the war that people now don’t realize.”

LIGHTHOUSE ART:Mural to celebrate Marblehead Lighthouse bicentennial

Growing up in Clyde, enjoying the simple things

Koch has lived in Fremont since 1944 and spent her entire childhood in Clyde, where she and her friends found entertainment in simple things like reading books and playing Old Maid. Although technology has changed the face of modern childhood, Koch said the nature of Sandusky County hasn’t changed.

“People are still friendly here,” she said.

Koch said she “never worked” outside the home, but she worked for free at ProMedica Memorial Hospital for over 30 years, outliving many of the doctors and staff who were there when she started.

For many of those years she worked for Golden Threads Director Annette Overmyer, where Koch said she sorted mail and answered the phone and did “nothing that took a whole lot of brain.”

“She downplays what she did, but she was the first person to greet people when they walked in the door. She helped members sign up for trips, she took payments, and she still helps from home. She labeled 1,000 containers for Operation Cookie Drop and helps when we have big mailings,” Overmyer said. “For many years, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it was Myrtle.”

PLANTING THE SEED:Green Springs community garden met local need

A birthday luncheon celebration

On Oct. 13, Overmyer took Myrtle out for a 104th birthday celebration lunch.

“She is just a little pip, and we love her,” Overmyer said prior to the lunch. “I’m hoping people celebrate Myrtle all week long.”

What is Koch’s secret to longevity?

“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” she said. “All I know is, it’s too long to live.”

Many people would disagree, including her nephew by marriage, Clyde Mayor Scott Black.

“She is the Wonder Woman of senior citizens in Fremont,” he said.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.