Family surprised with bench honoring their late daughter who loved the state fair

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. -- It's hard not to notice all of the rainbow benches around the fairgrounds every year. People or groups can purchase the benches with the money going towards the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.

If you look closely at those benches, you'll see each bench is personalized with a name or fair memory. 

This year, a new yellow bench was added near the Kidway off Cooper St. to honor Kaydee Koch who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year at the age of 20.

Kaydee was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, when she was 17. She lived in Denver, Colorado with her parents and two brothers, Ryan and Logan, but most of her extended family lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

It was an annual tradition to come to the Minnesota State Fair every year to see her family, and Kaydee fell in love with the experience.

Her last visit to the fair was in 2021, where she got up in the front of the stage at the Bootleg concert and danced to "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. You'd never know that behind that big smile, she was fighting a big battle.

"Everything she went through, you'd never see it on her face. She always persevered and made the best of it," said Lenee Koch, Kaydee's mom. "She loved it here, and she had a great time last year, which was her last year."

Kaydee died earlier this year, making this the first fair without her, so her friends and family surprised Kaydee's parents and brother, Ryan, with a piece of her permanently at the fairgrounds.

Her parents and brother grew emotional seeing Kaydee's name on a bench, memorialized at her favorite place on earth. 

"I think this is something we'll mark every year and we'll want to come back, and obviously see our friends and family, but there's a special piece knowing Kaydee's going to be at the fair every year," said Pau Koch, Kaydee's dad.

From this year forward, every person who takes a break on Kaydee's bench, can read her story and take with them a piece of her outlook on life.

"She had a will to live and just enjoyed every moment," said Lenee Koch. 

However, when her family and friends sit on this bench, they'll be taken back to those special moments with Kaydee in the place she loved so much. 

"I hope she had the time of her life because she loved this place," said Paul Koch.

While Kaydee was sick, she noticed an injustice in pediatric cancer care. Only kids under 18 benefit from Make-a-Wish. So she started a new foundation before she died to grant wishes to older kids battling cancer, called "Project Sol Flower."

Click here to learn more or donate to Project Sol Flower.

Click here to learn how to purchase a personalized bench at the MN State Fair.