Nancy Koss, whose husband John founded the iconic headphone company that still bears their name, died on Jan. 8, surrounded by her family.
According to her son Michael Koss, chairman/CEO of Koss Corp., Nancy’s support and encouragement of his dad’s entrepreneurial vision was instrumental in the creation of the Milwaukee-based business, which is credited with developing the first hi-fi stereo headphones in 1958.
The fledgling company’s debut product, the SP/3 Stereophone, was assembled in the family basement by John and his musician friends, while Nancy cooked their meals and helped bake the headphones’ Royalite earcups, Michael recalled.
Her image was captured in the original Koss logo bearing the “Hearing is Believing” trademark.
Besides her husband and son, Nancy is survived by four other children, 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
