Listen to this article
by Patricia Bartels –
Envoy Gerald Koch has retired after 42 years of service with The Salvation Army. He served in Metro Denver for the past 29 years.
Koch was born in Detroit, Mich., and raised in a Salvation Army family in the Central Territory. He attended the Chicago School for Officer Training. During his time in Central Territory, he was the director at Settlement House in Chicago.
He came to Denver to run The Salvation Army’s social services.
Among his many accomplishments in the Denver metro area were his guidance and direction in opening the Blake Street Survival Shelter (now Crossroads) and the Lambuth Family Transitional Housing Center.
Besides traveling with his wife, Janice, and spending time with their six grandchildren, Koch plans to write a book on how to request assistance and help people make a realistic plan.
Says Koch, “The difference in The Salvation Army social services is the real element of Christian love.”