Celebration of life held for Kitchener-Waterloo Elvis [Video]

Nearly two weeks after the man known as Kitchener-Waterloo Elvis passed away, a celebration of life was held Thursday for Kitchener’s King.

People gathered to honour the larger-than-life character at Henry Walser Funeral Home.

To most who passed by Ron Koch on the streets, he was K-W’s Elvis, but to Natasha Pande, he was much more.

“I’m like his sister,” said Pande, who is a family friend.

No matter the setting, or who he was with, she described Koch as unique and sometimes misunderstood.

“Someone who wasn’t afraid to be himself,” she said.

Whether it was singing with loved ones or strutting the streets in his famous jumpsuits, there was just something about Koch that the community couldn’t help falling in love with.

“As we were passing by, he always had the biggest, warmest smile I’ve ever seen in my life. His eyes just literally twinkled like Christmas lights,” said Brenda McHugh, who saw Koch often in the community.

She …