Burch Family History & Genealogy

Walter DeWitt Burch (W.D. or Dee) was born in McRae, GA on July 19, 1894. He was the first of 10 children. In March of 1946 he married Nelly Mae Eidson of Athens, GA. They met in Atlanta, GA where they both worked in the State Capitol Building. On January 4, 1947 their first child was born, a girl, Nell Eidson Burch. Then came their second daughter, Linda Dee Burch on September 16, 1948. The family lived in Atlanta at 1895 Wycliff Rd. until 1957. They moved into their first house that year, 101 Peachtree Hills Ave. The girls attended E. Rivers Grammar School and North Fulton High School. They were both active in Girl Scouts.

Dee was very close to his sister Clyde and brother Frank. Clyde married very young and lived in Americus, GA. She had a daughter, Marthalene. Frank lived in Helena, GA. I wish I knew more about Daddy's family.

Daddy died in January, 1959. He had been ill for 3 months. It started as a gallbladder attack. His blood pressure was very high, so the surgeon had to wait until he was more stable to operate. I remember the surgeon showed my sister, mother and I the gallstones after the operation. Daddy came home for awhile, but wasn't getting better, so he went back into the hospital. He was in Piedmont Hospital when he died. This was a very hard time. When you're a kid, you don't think that your parents will die. I had just turned 12 and my sister, Linda was only 10. Mama had to go to work. She hadn't worked since she had the 2 of us. There was no life insurance and she had a mortgage to pay off. She continued to work even after a serious automobile accident that happened 2-3 years later. The accident put her in a back brace. She suffered quite a bit with her back, and at times needed a walker to get around. Her last job before retiring was a secretary job at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. I graduated from high school and began school at Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta. My sister entered a college a year later. We both went back to school later and received our masters degrees. I married Charles LaCrosse Kapeghian 3 days after graduation. We have 2 children - Van Alan and Amy Gwen. Amy married Darren Thompson on August 16, 1998. They have 3 children - Emily Joan, Ashley Ruth and Zachary Charles. Van married Dana Poss on Dec. 30, 2000. They have 2 children - Van Alan, Jr. and Vivienne Alaine. On April 6, 2008 Charles fell down the steps in his home and suffered from a fatal head injury. This was the worse day of my life. I lost my husband, my best friend and the love of my life.