Milton Gelwicks Branham

Col. Milton G. Branham died December 31, 2013 at his home at Knollwood Military Retirement Community in NW Washington DC. He died peacefully in a manner he would have chosen, celebrating New Years Eve with friends.

Col. Branham was born in Medicine , Kansas in 1917 to Zada Lister and the Reverend George Milton Branham. He and his 3 sisters, Erma, Miriam and Dora Branham and one brother, Alfred Branham were raised in Wichita, Kansas, where he graduated from East High School.

Col. Branham was devoted to his family and to the U.S. Army which he joined in 1940. During World War II he served in North Africa and Italy. Early assignments following the war were at Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, California; Fort Monroe, Virginia; and Fort Carson, Colorado. He served as the Ordnance Advisor to the Royal Danish Army and later to the Chinese National Army in Taiwan. Colonel Branham also served in Korea and he worked in the Office of the Chief of Ordnance in Headquarters, U.S. Army Material Command in Washington, D.C. In 1969, he was appointed Commanding Officer of Seneca Army Depot in New York. His last assignment was as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics at Headquarters, Continental Air Defense Command-North American Air Defense Command, Colorado Springs, Colorado, from which he retired after a 33-year career. Among the awards held by Colonel Branham are two Legions of Merit, the Soldiers Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. His degrees include a Master's of science in logistics from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Upon retirement, Colonel Branham and his wife, Mickey (Minnie Aline Parsons) mother of his children, made their home in Colorado Springs where he pursued his love for fishing and hunting. After Mickey passed away in 1983, he married, in 1984, an old high school friend, Gerri (Geraldine Faye Dunn) with whom he enjoyed their many friends and several trips and cruises until she passed away in 2006. In 2013, he moved to the Knollwood Military Retirement Community in Washington D.C. where his son is the Hall and Facilities Administrator.

Col. Branham will be greatly missed by his friends and family. He is survived by his daughters, Nancy Van Valkenburgh and Sally Sumihiro, and their spouses Woody Van Valkenburgh and Gary Sumihiro; his son, James Branham; and by his three granddaughters, Ashley Van Valkenburgh, Shannon Sumihiro and Alexandra Branham; his grandsons, Christopher Van Valkenburgh and James Sumihiro; his great grandson, Raphael Sebastion (Rafa); Ashley's spouse, Brian Ewing; and by his sister Dora Branham Timmerman Bayer, niece Carol Parker and many other nieces and nephews.

Col. Branham remained very active and social in his last years. He had a wonderful group of friends that he would meet with weekly at the Air Force Academy Officer’s Club in Colorado Springs, and remained quite active in the stock market. He continued to hold these relationships close after he moved to Washington DC.

He will be buried alongside his two wives in Arlington Memorial Cemetery with full military honors March 20, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. A chapel service will be held at 9:00 a.m. Following the burial, a reception will be held at Knollwood.

Arrangements under the direction of Joseph Gawler's Sons LLC, Washington, DC.