John Hans Burch (2006)
BRADLEY, BURCH, CALLAHAN, CORSIGLIA, DATWYLER, NIELSEN, SELLS, STANLEY, WARNER
Posted By: Mary Welty Hart
Date: 4/13/2006 at 22:39:47
Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, April 12, 2006JOHN HANS BURCH, Punta Gorda, Florida
John Hans Burch, 84, formerly of Rathbun Lake, Iowa, passed away Thursday, March 16, 2006, at Charlotte Regional Hospital in Punta Gorda, Fla.
He was born March 25, 1921, in Madison County, Iowa, to Harry and Stella Burch. John attended Kemper Military Academy in Boonville, Mo., before starting a long line of successful business ventures.
After college, the next 23 years were spent in a family endeavor to build Burchland Farms — a 1,700-acre farming enterprise with 300 head of Angus cattle. During this same time, John owned several other business enterprises — including a farm machinery sales company, the Winterset airport, a dry cleaning business, an insurance agency and a construction company. In 1965, John bought an H&R Block franchise in Ottumwa, Iowa; six years later, in 1971, he added a second franchise in Centerville, Iowa. That same year, he founded the Rathbun Recreation Company in Iowa and started construction of the only marina on Iowa’s largest lake. Over the next 25 years, John grew the marina from a single floating gas pump to a full service 200 slip marina with restaurant, store and campgrounds and added a second marina at the opposite end of Lake Rathbun.
In 1995, John sold both marinas and, with his wife Carol, retired to Punta Gorda, Florida. His retirement years were spent enjoying friends and family and monitoring investments. John was a longtime member of the Masonic Lodge and Kaaba Shriners Temple. He will be long remembered by friends and family for his generous nature, his sense of humor and love of fun.
He is survived by his wife, Carol Bradley Burch, and two sisters, Maxine Burch of Newton, Kan., and Beverly Burch Stanley of Punta Gorda, Fla. Also surviving are his eight children: Nancy Warner and husband Bill of Ceres, Calif.; Susan Burch of Modesto, Calif.; Jane Corsiglia and husband Tony of Bettendorf, Iowa; Dori Datwyler of Oskaloosa, Iowa; Robert and wife Nancy of Putney, Vt.; Christopher and wife Katherine of Fort Myers, Fla.; and Amanda and husband Alan Sells and Bill and wife Sharon, all of Centerville; 20 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, two nephews and one niece. John was preceded in death by his parents and by Ruth DeVault Burch, Dorothy Nielsen and a great-grandson, Michael Callahan III.
Memorial donations may be directed to your local chapter of Hospice. A memorial service is pending. Arrangements were handled by the National Cremation Society of Port Charlotte, Fla.
Gravesite
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen