John Branch

1933 - 2018

John Branch

Auburn, AL - Dr. John L. Branch, Jr, of Auburn, AL, passed away on January 9, 2018 in Opelika, AL of pneumonia related to a progressive muscle disease., Dr. Branch was born in Montgomery, AL on December 11, 1933., He was preceded in death by his father, Dr. John L. Branch and his mother, Mrs. Louise K. Branch of Montgomery. Dr. Branch graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in 1951 and from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, in 1955. He graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine in 1959 and completed a residency at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Dr. Branch then served as a U.S. Army flight Surgeon in Wiesbaden, Germany before joining Lockheed Aircraft Company as a medical officer. He eventually retired as the Medical Director of the Marietta, Georgia aircraft plant of the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Dr. Branch lived in Atlanta, GA and Marietta, GA from 1964 to 2013. In December, 2013, he moved to Magnolia Cottages in Auburn, AL to be near his family. His last residence was Oak Park .Nursing Home in Auburn.

Dr. Branch is survived by his brother Charles E. Branch and sister-in-law Tana N. Branch of Auburn, AL, his niece Virginia Louise Branch and husband Glenn Buie of Providence, RI, his nephew Benjamin Charles Branch and wife Ligia Branch of Birmingham, AL, and his niece Catherine Branch Caponetto and her husband Robbie Caponetto of Birmingham, AL. He is also survived by great nieces and nephews John Evans Branch, Nathan Murphy Branch, Paula Marques Branch, Maren Davis Caponetto, and Nora Evans Caponetto, all of Birmingham, AL

As a loyal friend and devoted uncle and brother, Dr. Branch will be remembered for his vivid memory and innate gift of gab, as a voracious reader of hardcover books ranging from detective fiction to American political history, as a chronic real estate sleuth, for toggling between TV cooking shows and college football, and for completing the New York Times Sunday crossword in one sitting with a ballpoint pen.

A graveside service is scheduled at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery, AL at 12:30 PM on 14, January officiated by the Reverend Robert C. Wisnewski, Jr. of St. John's Episcopal Church in Montgomery. (Route 7 Section 6) White Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Memorial donations may be made to The Myositis Association (http://www.myositis.org) or The Muscular Dystrophy Association (https://www.mda.org).