Robert W. "Bob" Birch, 83, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 13, 2015 at the Quarry in Vancouver, WA. Bob was born in Worland, WY, on July 18, 1932, to Thomas L. and Pearl Schlosser Birch, the youngest of seven children. His father was a farmer and his mother was a teacher. The Birch family moved to Lucerne where Bob completed grade school. He graduated from Hot Springs County High School in Thermopolis in 1949 and was Valedictorian of his graduating class. Bob received his M.S. Degree in Statistics from the University of Wyoming in 1956, attaining the highest ranking grade-point of his graduating class and earning an award for the senior with the best combination of both academic achievement and student governing activities. Bob loved school, remembering his high school and college years as some of the best years of his life. Some of Bob's Wyoming classmates remained close friends his entire life. Bob Joined IBM in 1955, in San Francisco as a technical support person to salesmen selling computers. When he moved to San Francisco in 1955, Bob became reacquainted with Barbara Freudenthal, from Thermopolis, who was working in Sacramento. Bob and Barbara were married in Denver in 1957, divorced in 1975, and they have three children. Bob's career with IBM involved a lot of moving with assignments as a salesman, staff manager, and branch sales manager in Denver, CO; Seattle WA; Armonk, NY; Austin, TX; Los Angeles, CA; and White Plains, NY. In 1987 after a distinguished career of almost 32 years, Bob retired, and chose Sacramento as his retirement home, where he lived with his beloved companion of many years, Fran Miller. Fran brought out the best in Bob, and they shared many adventures together- traveling all over the world, visiting family and friends, and celebrating life. Bob especially enjoyed frequent get-togethers with Wyoming classmates living in the Sacramento area. In November, 2013, Bob moved to the Quarry Senior Living retirement center in Vancouver, WA. The family would like to express a special thank you to the Quarry staff for their compassion and care for Bob the past two years. Bob was a wonderful, loving, generous man; a friend, father, grandfather, and great-grand-father who will be greatly missed by his family and many close friends. He is survived by his children Sandra Birch and Rick Kennedy of Knoxville, TN; Karen Birch and Joe Cichy of Richland, WA; and Doug and Jennifer Birch of Camas, WA; and his beloved companion, Fran Miller of Sacramento, CA; her children Leslie and Tom Clemensen of Hayward, CA; and Shawn and Ben Koertje of Byron, CA. Bob is preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and two sisters. A memorial for family and friends will be held on December 12, 2015 at the University Park Clubhouse (corner of Howe Ave & Swarthmore Dr.) at 1 o'clock pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Church of the Cross, 4465 H St., Sacramento 95819.

Published in The Sacramento Bee on Nov. 22, 2015