Throughout his life, David C. Koch was always a fighter. “He was totally dedicated to whatever he tackled,” says his wife, Valerie. And so, when Mr. Koch was diagnosed with cancer six years ago, it came as no surprise to family and friends that he fought gallantly until succumbing to the disease last December.
Considering Mr. Koch’s fighting spirit, it’s fitting that a research fund, established in his memory, will help scientists wage their own battle to find a cure for cancer.
The David Koch Memorial Fund was established to support research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and to serve as a tribute to the courage, strength and humility with which Mr. Koch lived his life and, later, fought his cancer. The fund has received approximately $31,000 in memorial contributions to date.
“Cancer research is going to be the salvation for the next generation. This disease is so insidious that it’s going to take researchers to defeat it, and it’s going to take people supporting the researchers,” Mrs. Koch says. “I thought if in some small way our family could help, then that’s what we wanted to do.”
The fund will allow for the translation of new biologic therapy into clinical trials, including vaccines and novel tumor-directed vectors for gene delivery directed to treat tumors involving the liver. Research will be conducted under the direction of surgical oncologist David L. Bartlett, MD, co-leader of the Pancreatic Cancer Program at UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers. “The David Koch Memorial Fund will have a profound and direct impact on the development of new cancer therapy at UPCI. There is no question that the most limiting step in the development of better cancer treatment is the financial support of the research. This fund will directly and immediately support the development of new cancer therapeutics,” says Dr. Bartlett, who treated Mr. Koch in the latter stages of his life.
Mr. Koch had been ill for years before being diagnosed with cancer. Doctors near his home in Derby, N.Y. (a suburb of Buffalo), had initially attributed Mr. Koch’s ailment to a variety of more innocuous perpetrators, such as stress and poor diet. However, a malignant tumor in his cecum – a pouch that forms the beginning of the large intestine – was finally discovered after it caused a blockage in his intestines. Surgeons removed the blockage and the tumor, but by then the cancer had already metastasized to his liver, leaving Mr. Koch with a much more difficult battle. Ongoing treatment, including nearly a year of chemotherapy, failed to halt the cancer’s progression and, eventually, Mr. Koch was advised to come to UPMC Cancer Centers to receive state-of-the-art therapy that is not available in Buffalo. Treatment at UPMC Cancer Centers began in the spring of 2002 and appeared to be helping Mr. Koch until shortly before his death.
“I had the privilege of personally witnessing the dignified way that Mr. Koch fought his disease, and the understated, but proud and determined way that he lived,” Dr. Bartlett says. “It is therefore of special significance to me to administer these funds in a way that will provide the best chance of success in the development of a successful treatment for tumors involving the liver.”
Mr. Koch, who was 66, was the former president and CEO of New Era Cap Company. He began his career in the family business by hand-stitching wool baseball caps alongside his father, Harold, in a small factory located in Buffalo’s once-thriving garment district. Mr. Koch’s intuitive mind for business, coupled with his strong leadership abilities, transformed the Koch family’s modest operation into a thriving headwear manufacturer. Today, New Era is the exclusive maker of caps for Major League Baseball and makes headgear under license to colleges, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball Association. Its five plants employ more than 1,700 people and produce more than 15 million caps a year. Mr. Koch’s eldest son, Christopher, has been president of New Era for the last five years and continues to operate the business.
The reason Mr. Koch enjoyed so much success in the industry is because he cared so much about it. “He was a caring man,” says New York Mets equipment manager Charlie Samuels, whose 20-year business relationship with Mr. Koch developed into a personal friendship. “He actually cared about his relationship with us, with the ball clubs, and with his product. He wanted to make sure his product is what we wanted and that it was being represented well.” The New York Mets is one of several professional baseball teams that made a donation to the David Koch Memorial Fund. “We were all very sad to hear that he had passed away,” Mr. Samuels says.
That same attitude extended to his family, friends, and employees. “If you were David’s friend, you were his friend for life,” Mrs. Koch says. “He also cared deeply about the people who worked for him. People could go to him and share their personal problems with him and ask him for help. If he saw that somebody was in need of help, he would help. He had a heart of gold. He was one of a kind.”
By supporting cancer research and treatment, families like the Koch family are helping improve the lives of others affected by cancer. To make a contribution to the David Koch Memorial Fund, or if you or someone you know is interested in establishing a fund in memory or honor of someone special, please contact Kambra McConnel, Director of Individual Giving, at 412-623-4717.
