Larry Beazley Birch passed away July 12, 2020 in his home in Tempe, Arizona at the age of 81. Larry was born February 12, 1939 on a farm near Cleghorn, IA to Mother Barbara Beazley Birch and Father Milo Pooley Birch. He spent the first 17 years of his life on his family’s farm outside of Cleghorn, IA.
Life was not easy on the farm. Break of light morning-feedings of cattle, pigs and horses. Harvesting crops, milking cows, and all the mundane chores associated with farm life. Larry moved to Arizona with his parents and siblings after the family farm was sold back in 1955. He lived most the rest of his life in Arizona. He finished High School at Camelback High School and went on to advance his education at ASU. In 1960 he married Sandra Shinkle, with whom he had four boys. They divorced, and he later found his soul mate in Mary Jo Gulden, whom he married in 1991. They spent many devoted years together until her passing in 2007.
Larry was an accomplished man. As a teenager, he won the soap box derby in Cherokee, IA and went on to the National championships in Akron, Oh. He mentored other young men in their quest to win the Soap Box Derby in Phoenix, AZ. As a general contractor, Larry built his Uncle and Aunt’s home in Phoenix, plus many others. Early in his career, he worked for IBM and Motorola in Phoenix. He was a skilled computer programmer for AT&T, Honeywell, Wells Fargo & Sprint.
He was a man of fierce convictions and individual rights. He was a deeply faithful father and grandfather. His grandchildren meant the world to him, and he took great pleasure in the time he spent with them. Larry was an honest man, and did not shy away from a hard day’s work, and rarely found cause to complain. He was a man of many ideologies in religion, faiths, & beliefs, and often had an eclectic viewpoint. He had a strong interest in family history, coins and flashlights. Larry believed Eastern medicine was as effective, if not more, than Western medicine. He loved fishing. He was competitive and enjoyed a game of chess. He developed very strong personal friendships with many people during his life. Beaches called to him, especially Hawaii, Agate Street Beach in Laguna Beach, CA, and others along the west coast.
Larry was greeted with open arms by his Mary Jo and his parents Barbara and Milo Birch. He will be remembered by his siblings, John Milo Birch(Lynn Ester Birch), Jean LaDell Griffith, Gloria Faye Birch, his sons and their wifes/ partners David Birch, Denny (Estelle) Birch, Chris (Genevieve) Birch, and Joel (Adriana) Birch, and his 7 grandchildren Joshua Birch, Megan Birch, Chad Birch, Parker Birch Tree (P Tree), Conor Birch, Jackson Birch (JW) and Eloise Birch. A memorial service will be held at a later date when it is safer for all of Larry’s family and friends to come together to celebrate a man who will be greatly missed. A small celebration of life will be livestreamed on Saturday, July 18th, 2020 at 1:00 PM via the Zoom Meeting ID https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5567730548. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to Crossing Worlds Hopi Projects, The diaTribe Foundation, or United Way of Tempe.
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