Paramount Room's Shawn Koch Loses Brain Cancer Battle

Shawn Koch, a restaurant-industry veteran who had been battling brain cancer since February, 2010, sadly passed away Monday around 4:30 p.m. His wife, Katie, posted a note to his website saying that Koch took his last breath while a harpist played for about 10 minutes. "Our hearts are happy. Our hearts are sad. And it is okay -- to be happy sad..." she wrote. "He is free of cancer at last."

Koch, 34, who had worked at the Paramount Room, had many friends in the industry, as evidenced by the numerous fundraisers that took place to help Katie and their daughter, Charlie Mae. "I was very happy to host one of the many benefits for him at Blue 13 back in April," said Dan Marunowski, who co-owns Blue 13. "We raised a large amount of money in one night at a very small restaurant. You can ask others in the business about Shawn, they'll all sing great things about him."

Monday night, Marunowski tweeted, "In this city. In this line of work. We all run together. And we all take care of each other when it's needed. I stand by that."

Members of Koch's fraternity at Michigan State came together last week to host a fundraiser when they heard there was nothing more doctors could do and wanted to support Koch's family. Anyone who would like to make a donation to the Shawn Koch Foundation, can do so here. Our thoughts go out to Koch's friends and family.
· Shawn Koch [CaringBridge Website]
· Fraternal Love: Alumni Come Together to Give Support [StateNews.com]