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Snowmobile Hall of Famer Larry Koch dies

Larry Koch, known as a co-founder of Tousley Motorsports in Minnesota, past president of the Sno-Barons Snowmobile Club and an International Snowmobile Hall of Fame inductee, died Oct. 21 at the age of 71.

Koch co-founded Tousley Motorsports of White Bear Lake, Minn., a 2013 Powersports Business Power 50 dealership, with Tom Bennet and Ron Glassman in 1971. At the time, the dealership sold Swinger and Motoski snowmobiles, according to a 2006 PSB dealership profile. Tousley Motorsports was named the International Snowmobile Dealer of the Year in 1994.

Koch, a snowmobiler since the late 1960s, also served as president of the Sno-Barons Snowmobile Club, where he helped propel the Haydays Grass Drags event to become the premiere annual kickoff to the snowmobile season. He was also involved in the Trans-World Minnesota-to-Moscow snowmobile expedition, and he was inducted into the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in 1999.

An excerpt from Koch’s entry on the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame website reads, “Larry Koch was not only a snowmobile dealer, but a true snowmobiler who took the time to understand and support the end user and snowmobile organizations. His outstanding support for snowmobiling had clubs, associations and individuals calling upon him for his unique ideas, whether it was fundraising, safety, charity or other snowmobiling-related subjects.”

A message from the ISHOF’s Facebook page reads, “The International Snowmobile Hall of Fame sends our heart felt condolences to the family and friends of Larry Koch. He will be dearly missed.”

Tousley Motorsports posted on its Facebook page, “Tousley Motorsports and all its employees offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Larry Koch, Sr. Larry was a long-time and much beloved employee and friend of Tousley Motorsports for over 35 years.”

Memorial services were held Sunday and Monday in Siren, Wis.

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