Bobby Koch Passes Away

[Holly Moore]

Today's Inquirer carried Bobby Koch's obituary.

Anyone who passed an hour or two in line at Koch's Deli in West Philadelphia knew and loved Bobby Koch. At Koch's I always looked forward to the long wait. Got to spend more time chatting and joking with Bobby.

I hope Koch's survives without Bobby, but I can't imagine it ever being the same.

Edited August 11, 2005 by Holly Moore (log)

[philadining]

Holly, thanks for the notice.

You're right, it's hard to picture the place being the same without Bobby behind the counter. It felt weird to me without Lou...

It might be largely sentimental, but Koch's was/is my favorite deli anywhere. I hope it stays open, but it certainly feels like the end of an era.

My heartfelt sympathies to the extended Koch family, genetic and beyond.

[KatieLoeb]

My blood ran cold when I saw the title of this thread. I started crying as soon as I saw the photo of Bobby behind the counter. That's two Koch brothers gone far too soon from bad hearts.

Their hearts were as big as Montana, though. Both Lou and Bobby would greet you with a big "Howya doin'" and a joke. Always genuinely happy to see you, always bantering with the customers, always handing out samples of cheese and deli meat to pass the time on the long line. After Lou died I couldn't bear to go in to Koch's Deli for a very long time, just because I knew how sad it would make me. When I finally gathered up the gumption to go back in, Bobby greeted me with a "Hi Katie. How ya' been? How's your mom?", as if no time had passed at all. They always remembered your name, no matter how long it had been since you'd been in, or how regular a customer you were.

Legions of customers will be devastated by this news. The tiny shop is literally wallpapered with letters from former Penn and Drexel students and former neighbors that never forgot Koch's, no matter how far away they moved, or how much time had passed. It's that kind of place.

Godspeed Bobby. You were one of a kind and will be sorely missed.

[Rich Pawlak]

My favorite Sunday afternoons as a Penn student were spent hanging out at Koch's, making the difficult choice of a sandwich, and spending time with the elder Kochs, mother and father, and Lou and Bobby. Mother Koch couldnt hand out enough munchies to snack on as we waited in line, and both Bobby's and Lou's corny jokes took all the pretense out of our college coolness and allowed us to be human beings again instead of affected student intellectuals. Koch's brought you back to earth, to when people were personable and kind, took an interest in your life and well-being, and understood the value of nourishing more than your belly. I've always believed that the Kochs understood that they were much more than a deli, and that they knew that the place was a touchstone, with an enormous emotional tug on most every Penn and Drexel and Pharmacy student that found their way there. I haven't been to Koch's in years, and now I feel a terrible emptiness. I doubt the remaining Koch brother, Barry, will maintain the place, let alone keep it open.

R.I. P., Bobby Koch.

[Andrew Fenton]

What sad news; a terrible loss to so many people.

[BrentKulman]

When I was in grad school at Penn, I would occasionly make the trip up to Koch's for their great sandwiches. It was a bit of a hike, but always worth it.

I didn't go often enough to develop a personal relationship and it was so long ago now, that I hardly remember anything about the place, but I do recall they ran one fine deli.

[KatieLoeb]

A dear friend of mine (and former roommate at Penn with whom I shared many Koch's sandwiches) is the editor in chief at Family Business Magazine. They're in the midst of working on a story about Koch's Deli and received a phone call on Monday from Bobby's wife saying a treasured family photo of the elder Mr. and Mrs. Koch with Lou and Bobby was on it's way FedEx. Apparently this photo was one that Bobby kept on his treadmill to motivate him. Bobby's wife also mentioned that he had passed that morning.

Hopefully the story will appear in the autumn issue of the magazine on schedule, but in memoriam.

RIP.

[Guest JonB]

Oh dear. First Lou, now Bobby.

Nothing but good memories from the late '80s when I was undergrad there. Where else would people stand in line for an hour on a Saturday with nothing but smiles? Brisket fresh from the oven, toasted with cheese on rye in that little oven by the cash register. P.C.O.M. specials. And that unbelievable chocolate/cheese cake that looked like a black and white slice of Gloucester-Stilton.

[Greg Salisbury]

When I saw the thread title, I prayed that someone had mistakenly titled a thread about Lou. Bob, what can you say about the guy? I used to get the PCOM hoagie when I was at Penn in the late 80s. Didn't go back for 11-12 years, until we were doing construction on the restaurant. Walked in, Bob said, "Hi, Greg, PCOM or did you wanna try something different.?" I, too, cannot imagine Koch's surviving without Bob and his photographic memory, bad jokes and slices of meat and cheese to pass around.

A great restaurateur, a better friend. Godspeed, Bob.

Wow. Wow. I can't even come up with anything coherent or worthy in memoriam.

You will be missed by many, many people, Bob.

Does anyone know if there will be a public memorial service?

[KatieLoeb]

When I saw the thread title, I prayed that someone had mistakenly titled a thread about Lou. Bob, what can you say about the guy? I used to get the PCOM hoagie when I was at Penn in the late 80s. Didn't go back for 11-12 years, until we were doing construction on the restaurant. Walked in, Bob said, "Hi, Greg, PCOM or did you wanna try something different.?" I, too, cannot imagine Koch's surviving without Bob and his photographic memory, bad jokes and slices of meat and cheese to pass around.

A great restaurateur, a better friend. Godspeed, Bob.

Wow. Wow. I can't even come up with anything coherent or worthy in memoriam.

You will be missed by many, many people, Bob.

Does anyone know if there will be a public memorial service?

←

OK - I just started weeping, again.

Damn. Like you, Greg, I just can't think of anything that expresses the depth of my sadness at this news.

If news of any kind of public memorial service becomes available, please post it here as I'm certain many of us would want to be there. If anyone knows Bob's family, please let them know about the outpouring of condolences here. I would hope it would be a small comfort to them.

Godspeed Bobby. If any of us has the good fortune to touch as many lives as you have, we'll be fortunate indeed.

[Mummer]

Michael Klein says that Koch's reopens today with long-time employee Larry Dickerson at the helm.

Thursday thru Sundays for now.

University City deli is reopening is the headline over the inside half of the printed column. Food for thought heads the electronic paragraph.

[KatieLoeb]

Michael Klein says that Koch's reopens today with long-time employee Larry Dickerson at the helm.

Thursday thru Sundays for now.

University City deli is reopening is the headline over the inside half of the printed column. Food for thought heads the electronic paragraph.

←

This is great news. I'd always said the only way it would survive was if the employees took over. No one else "gets" it. It won't ever be the same without Lou or Bobby, but I think Larry will keep their spirits alive as much as is possible in their absence.

I plan to make a visit this weekend and show my support. I'll have my usual, the "Katie Special" - Spiced Beef, Chicken Salad and Jarlsberg cheese with cole slaw and Russian dressing on an onion roll. Try it - it's delicious!

[DTBarton]

This place was on my short list to visit next time in Philly. It sounds like the Koch brothers were quite a pair. Nice to hear the remembrances, sorry to have missed the originals. My best to the family and friends. It's funny how deeply a food place can get in to you. I still haven't recovered from the passing of Claudio Aurelia a few years back. Still love Claudios but it's not the same without Claudio sitting my niece on the counter and feeding her mortadella, yelling at my brother and me (Hey, are you the computer guy or the submarine guy? I was the submarine guy).

[philadining]

I still haven't recovered from the passing of Claudio Aurelia a few years back.

←

Sorry to get off-topic here, but was Claudio Sal's father? Sal has a son named Claudio, and the timing didn't quite make sense to me, I couldn't figure out how the shop could be named after the younger one.... (And I think the family name is Auriemma or am i confusing two families?)

[TarteTatin]

Yes, off topic.

But Sal was Claudio's brother. Sal named his son after Claudio even when he was alive.

Claudio loved motorcycles, he loved the TV business, he loved waiting on Jews and Wasps (we were both), and I truly loved him.

Sal still likes the TV business, but its just so very sad...

[KatieLoeb]

Well - I did it. As promised, I stopped by Koch's today to lend support for the re-opening. Brother Barry Koch and his wife Abby were there to oversee. They told me that they're opening with the limited hours previously mentioned until they get it back together. Understandable given the short notice with which this tragedy struck.

The employees were doing their thing, as usual. Samples getting handed down the line on slices of waxed paper. Jokes being told. Large and delicious sandwiches were being constructed (and that really is the only word for it) and wrapped up to be handed into eager hands. Here's a look at my lunch:

Spiced Beef, Chicken Salad, Swiss cheese, Cole Slaw and Russian Dressing on an Onion Roll. Yessiree. That is one bangin' sandwich.

I'll be e-mailing a link to this thread to the family. I thought they'd want to see it.

[Greg Salisbury]

That is great news, Katie! Did they say anything about any changes, or will it be the same as it ever was?

[KatieLoeb]

An old college buddy was in the general vicinity today for a hockey game his older son was playing in. He called me up and asked if I wanted to come see the game and then have some lunch. Sure, says I. Dontcha know he wanted to go to Koch's! Just like old times as he was someone I often went to Koch's with while we were both at Penn. I'm happy to report that the place is running like a top, expanded hours are back and even the bad jokes were in attendance. Larry is doing a great job running the shop and there seemed to be a good deal of help as well. Our order of 5 sandwiches (one to go home to his younger son who wouldn't forgive him if he came all the way to Koch's from North Jersey and didn't bring one back for him) took a while to prepare but everthing was carefully boxed up for us and the help was friendly and as sweet as ever. Samples passed while we waited included sweet meunster cheese, turkey pastrami, corned beef and pickles. I had a Sid & Frances special - baked salmon salad (it's usually whitefish but the Baked salmon salad in the deli case looked so good I asked them to substitute that), Nova lox, sweet muenster cheese, onions and tomato on a Kaiser roll. Alas they already sold out of the onion rolls it should have come on. No matter. It was still delicious. And Koch's - although not the same without Bobby, lives on!