Son of Melville Campbell Branch and Martha Louise Patteson Bowie Branch.
He attended St. Christopher's School, the Choate School, graduated from Princeton and was commissioned as a Navy Lieutenant in 1941. Assigned to VF 34 Fighter Squadron, he shipped overseas for duty in the Western Pacific where he served aboard the Saratoga before she was crippled by Kamikaze strikes and barely escaped sinking. His squadron was reassigned to the Monterrey, which took part in air raids over Japan, until the surrender. After the war, Read, his brother, Pat and his cousin, Ned Rennolds reactivated the family brokerage business as Branch & Company which joined with Davenport & Company in 1975, where he worked until he died. He served on the boards of First & Merchants Bank, The Church Schools of the Diocese of Virginia and was president of the Cabell Foundation. He was married to Helen Nelson Noell who died in 1974. In 1976 he married Bettye Richardson Mitchell who died in 2001. Daughter Grace Branch Moore died in 1996.
He attended St. Christopher's School, the Choate School, graduated from Princeton and was commissioned as a Navy Lieutenant in 1941. Assigned to VF 34 Fighter Squadron, he shipped overseas for duty in the Western Pacific where he served aboard the Saratoga before she was crippled by Kamikaze strikes and barely escaped sinking. His squadron was reassigned to the Monterrey, which took part in air raids over Japan, until the surrender. After the war, Read, his brother, Pat and his cousin, Ned Rennolds reactivated the family brokerage business as Branch & Company which joined with Davenport & Company in 1975, where he worked until he died. He served on the boards of First & Merchants Bank, The Church Schools of the Diocese of Virginia and was president of the Cabell Foundation. He was married to Helen Nelson Noell who died in 1974. In 1976 he married Bettye Richardson Mitchell who died in 2001. Daughter Grace Branch Moore died in 1996.
Son of Melville Campbell Branch and Martha Louise Patteson Bowie Branch.
He attended St. Christopher's School, the Choate School, graduated from Princeton and was commissioned as a Navy Lieutenant in 1941. Assigned to VF 34 Fighter Squadron, he shipped overseas for duty in the Western Pacific where he served aboard the Saratoga before she was crippled by Kamikaze strikes and barely escaped sinking. His squadron was reassigned to the Monterrey, which took part in air raids over Japan, until the surrender. After the war, Read, his brother, Pat and his cousin, Ned Rennolds reactivated the family brokerage business as Branch & Company which joined with Davenport & Company in 1975, where he worked until he died. He served on the boards of First & Merchants Bank, The Church Schools of the Diocese of Virginia and was president of the Cabell Foundation. He was married to Helen Nelson Noell who died in 1974. In 1976 he married Bettye Richardson Mitchell who died in 2001. Daughter Grace Branch Moore died in 1996.
He attended St. Christopher's School, the Choate School, graduated from Princeton and was commissioned as a Navy Lieutenant in 1941. Assigned to VF 34 Fighter Squadron, he shipped overseas for duty in the Western Pacific where he served aboard the Saratoga before she was crippled by Kamikaze strikes and barely escaped sinking. His squadron was reassigned to the Monterrey, which took part in air raids over Japan, until the surrender. After the war, Read, his brother, Pat and his cousin, Ned Rennolds reactivated the family brokerage business as Branch & Company which joined with Davenport & Company in 1975, where he worked until he died. He served on the boards of First & Merchants Bank, The Church Schools of the Diocese of Virginia and was president of the Cabell Foundation. He was married to Helen Nelson Noell who died in 1974. In 1976 he married Bettye Richardson Mitchell who died in 2001. Daughter Grace Branch Moore died in 1996.
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