Melvin D. "Mel" Birch

ROSS, BIRCH, GRABOW, VOLK, YOUNG, FOSTER, VUILLEQUEZ

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 10/15/2002 at 18:58:04

Melvin D. "Mel" Birch

Telegraph Herald newspaper, Dubuque, Iowa
Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Page 6B, Column One

Melvin D. Birch Sr.

Mr. Melvin D. "Mel" Birch Sr., 75, of Ennoble Manor Care Center, 2000 Pasadena Drive, formerly a devoted resident of the Woodlands Apartments at 3460 Starlite Drive, died at 9:25 a.m. Monday, June 17, 2002, at the care center.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Mueller Memorial Chapel at Linwood Cemetery. Burial will be in Linwood Cemetery. There will be no visitation. The Dennis Kitchen Funeral Home, 3860 Asbury Road, is in charge of arrangements.

He was born on March 4, 1927, in Dubuque, son of Melvin and Eva (Ross) Birch.

He married Mary Grabow on Oct. 2, 1948, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Dubuque. In 1954, they moved to Denver, where they lived until returning to Dubuque in 1988.

He grew up in Dubuque and graduated from Dubuque Senior High School in 1946. He was a World War II Navy veteran. He was an industrial salesman for 12 years, retiring in 1992. Before that, he had worked for the Western Auto Co. in Des Moines and Omaha, Neb. After he retired, he greatly enjoyed working part-time at the Fenelon Place Fourth Street Elevator, where he was proud to tell people about Dubuque history. He also served as a volunteer at The Finley Hospital for a brief period.

Surviving are two daughters, Laura Volk (Dr. Joseph Roscoe), of Webster, N.Y., and Leah Ross (Stanley) Young, of Savanna, Ill.; two sons, Melvin (Kathryn) Birch, of North Pole, Alaska, and Daniel (Sue) Birch, of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Dr. Gretchen Volk, Jennifer and Christopher Foster, Sarah, Kaisa, Katie, Emily and Connor Birch; two great-grandchildren, Corrina and Jack Vuillequez; and four sisters-in-law, Kathleen, Bette and Madonna Birch, all of Dubuque, and Eunice Grabow, of Tucson, Ariz.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to The Finley Hospital and Hospice of Dubuque.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, on April 19, 1998.