BIRCH, Margaret

BIRCH, ANDERSEN, NIELSEN, HANSEN, REIDESEL, BUSCH, SCHUSTER, JOHNSON, ROSE, REMINGTON, COLBY, STEPANEK, HAGEY, WIESE, LUNDELL, PEDERSEN, WILCOX, FRENCH

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 1/15/2008 at 14:06:57

Margaret Birch, 90, of Cleghorn passed away Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, at Cherokee Regional Medical Center in Cherokee, Iowa, following a brief illness.

Services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Cleghorn Presbyterian Church, with the Revs. Rick Kargard and Ray Kruger officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee. There will be a family prayer service at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Visitation will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee.

Margaret was born April 15, 1917, in rural Cleghorn, to Chris and Agnes (Andersen) Nielsen. She received her religious training, baptism and confirmation at the Nazarith Lutheran Church in Marcus, Iowa. She attended Cleghorn School until the fourth grade and finished in Meriden, Iowa, graduating in 1935. Her entire life was spent in Cherokee County.

She was married to Stanley Birch on Nov. 28, 1935, in Alta, Iowa. In 1975, the couple began wintering in Alamo, Texas, where they began a second family of friends and fun living until their health began to fail.

She joined the Presbyterian Church shortly after their marriage and was active in all church activities including Martha Society and later the Presbyterian Guild (women's society), holding all of the offices of the church and was assistant Sunday School teacher of the adult class.

She is survived by a daughter, Margie Hansen of Fairfax, Iowa; a son, LaVerne Birch of Cleghorn; a daughter-in-law, Janine Reidesel of Paton, Iowa; nine grandchildren, Michael (Mary) Hansen, Brad (Terrie) Hansen, Debbie Hansen and Joel (Jenny) Hansen, all of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Karen Busch and Brenda Schuster, both of Fairfax, Iowa, Chris (Lisa) Hansen of Walford, Iowa, Lisa (Eric) Johnson of Cleghorn and Melanie Rose of Omaha; 15 great-grandchildren, Michael John (Meg) Hansen, Matthew Hansen, Tara Hansen, Jacob and Joshua Hansen, all of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Andrea (James) Remington, Elizabeth Busch, Melissa, Colby and Jarrad Stepanek, all of Fairfax, Iowa, Sawyer and Riley Hansen of Walford, Iowa, Allison, Caitlan and Madison Johnson of Cleghorn; a great-great-granddaughter, Leah Stepanek; three sisters, Esther Hagey of Marcus, Iowa, Vera and her husband, Donald Wiese of Larrabee, Iowa, and Elna Lundell of Livingston, Wis.; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Stanley on July 10, 2006; a son, David Birch in 1974; a daughter-in-law, Nancy Birch in 2007; two brothers, Andy and Niels Nielsen; and three sisters, Elisabeth Pedersen, Anna Mae Wilcox and Marie French.