Obituary for John Birch

Ponca City Now - November 20, 2016 9:03 am

John Edward Birch

(September 12, 1949 – November 17, 2016)

John Edward Birch, 67, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on November 17, 2016 at OU Medical Center after a courageous battle against cancer. John was born in Ponca City on September 12, 1949 to Kenneth Dwight and Joaquin (Soward) Birch. His best childhood memories are from growing up with the Amerada Camp kids in Tioga, ND. He graduated from Tioga High School in 1967 and from Minot State University in 1973 with a degree in economics. On October 11, 1994 he married the love of his life Monique Marie Fawcett in Las Vegas. John spent most of his career as an agricultural and commercial lender in Kay County. Most recently he worked as the cage manager at Osage Casino.

John was an avid hunter, a sports fanatic (cheering on the LA Dodgers, Oklahoma Sooners, Dallas Cowboys, and OKC Thunder), a music lover and record collector, Trivial Pursuit guru, and a Harley enthusiast. John lived life to the fullest and loved spending time with family and friends. He was a loving husband, father, son, brother, papa, uncle, and friend. He invested individually in so many of his family member’s lives and made a special impact on all of those who were blessed to call him by one of those many titles. He especially cherished his time as Papa with his 10 grandchildren.

John is survived by his wife Monique of Ponca City; his mother Joaquin Douglass of San Marcos, TX; his children Jamie (Chad) Lee of Williston, ND, Lindsay (Chris) Gander of Edmond, Matt Birch of Williston, ND, Micah (Kelsy) Birch of Dickinson, ND, and Dylan Birch of Ponca City; grandchildren Derek, Grady, and Eli Lee; Jewel, Rex, and Taya Gander; Ryder and Holden Birch; and Cameron and Isabelle Hinton; sisters Carol Birch and Gayla Soucek; brother Jim (C’Cie) Birch; stepsiblings Lorna Clark and Orlan (Mitzi) Douglass; mother-in-law Joy Fawcett; brothers-in-law Fred (Kim), Randall, and Victor Fawcett; numerous nephews and nieces as well as great-nephews and great-nieces. He was preceded in death by his father and his stepson, Ryan Lott.

A memorial service celebrating John’s life will be held at the Ponca City Foursquare Church on Monday, November 21, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Services are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory.

Source: Trout Funeral Home