Thomas Birch Obituary

Thomas Henry Birch, 92, died peacefully in Colorado Springs on July 1, 2007. Tom was born on the family farm near Marcus, Iowa on January 15, 1915. He was the fifth of ten children born to Arthur Ira Birch and Anna McQueen Birch. Tom graduated from Marcus High School in 1932, and then earned a law (JD) degree from the University of Iowa in 1940. Later that same year he was called into the army as a 2nd Lieutenant. On July 5, 1941, Tom married Dorothy Helen Miller of Marcus, in Minden, Louisiana. Assigned to the Second Division, 9th Infantry, "H" Co. he served as a company commander in Europe during WWII from the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, where he was later wounded at St. Lo and again at the Battle of the Bulge, until meeting up with the Russians in Rokycany, Czechoslovakia in May 1945. He served as a Judge Advocate officer with the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea during that conflict. In 1968 Tom retired from the army as a Colonel and practiced law at Carew and Birch for some thirty years in Colorado Springs. Tom is survived by his brother; O. Kenneth Birch of Gilbert, Arizona, his five children; Rebecca Birch Solinger of Petaluma, California, Melissa Smith of Overland Park, Kansas, Thomas Birch, Jr. of Bay City, Michigan, Bruce Birch of Littleton, Colorado, and Sarah McMullen of Monument, Colorado; seven grandchildren; Nicholas Birch, Travis Smith, Nathaniel Birch, Leah Smith, Tessa McMullen, Abigail Birch, and Ian McMullen; and two great grandchildren; Sierra Birch and Daphne Smith. Tom was predeceased by his parents, his wife Dorothy, five sisters and three brothers. Memorial services will be at Swan-Law Funeral Home of Colorado Springs at 11 a.m., Thursday, July 5, 2007. Another memorial service is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 8, 2007 at Boothby Mortuary, Cherokee, Iowa with interment at Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee, Iowa on Monday, July 9 at 10:30 a.m. The family requests donations to the Salvation Army in lieu of flowers.