Jack Birchler

1920 - 2015

INDIANAPOLIS – John James "Jack" Birchler, 94, of Indianapolis, formerly of Perry County, passed away peacefully in his sleep April 26, 2015, at Kindred Transitional Healthcare in Greenwood. He had been a resident of Crestwood Village due to his health.
He was born in Tell City Sept. 26, 1920, to Oscar and Helen (Hess) Birchler of Detroit, Mich. Helen traveled back to Tell City before his birth so he would be a native of Tell City.
Raised in Detroit, Jack's family later moved to Perry County, where he was a 1938 graduate of Tell City High School. He spent some time at St. Meinrad Seminary and later earned a Bachelor of Science in geology and geography from Indiana University in Bloomington. He also spent time stateside in the Army during World War II.
Jack's life work was cost engineering on an international scale. He worked in many states in the U.S. and was senior cost engineer in Saudi Arabia for its naval headquarters. He also worked for an LNG plant in Algeria, a diamond plant in Ireland and an automobile plastics plant in the Netherlands. He helped build an airbase on permafrost in Greenland, the first of its kind. Extremely knowledgeable of the Ohio River Valley, he was called upon by the U.S. Corps of Engineers to help with floodwalls near cities along the Ohio.
Jack's parents became the proprietors of the City Market on Main Street just in time to see the flood of '37 float their canned goods and other foodstuffs down Main and witness canoes tied to the doors of their parish church, St. Paul. Later, they opened a gift and news shop, commonly known as "The Birches."
Preceding him in death were his parents; his first wife, Maryann Guttery, formerly of Chicago and the mother of his four children, and his brother, Robert "Bob" of Lakeland, Fla.
Surviving are his present wife of 35 years, the former Mary Rose Strobel Beavin, a Tell City native; his children, Mary H. Birchler, Susan A. Birchler, Donald A. (Veronica) Birchler and sons Alan and Ian, all of Alexandria, Va.; John W. (Caryn) Birchler and children, David and Jennifer of Thornwood, N.Y.; sister-in-law, Phyllis (the late Bob) Birchler of Lakeland; his stepchildren, Sam (Kathleen) Beavin of Bothell, Wash.; Angie Beavin (John) Aumage of Nashville; his stepgrandsons, Nathaniel (Angela) Aumage and Zach (Sarah) Aumage and infant son, Jacob, all of Indianapolis and Nick Aumage of Columbus; his sister-in-law, Carol (Strobel) Dauby and Don Dauby and family, all of Tell City; and many friends at Our Lady of Greenwood Catholic Church and Crestwood Village.
Favorites in Jack's life were church and family, travel and reading, crossword puzzles, political discussions and environmental issues. He was an active member of Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic Church and The American Association of Cost Engineers International.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul Catholic Church in Tell City; Our Lady of the Greenwood, 335 S. Meridian St., Greenwood 46143; St. John the Evangelist, 126 W. Georgia Street, Indianapolis 46225; and michaeljfox.org for Parkinson's research.
A funeral Mass of the Resurrection was held April 28, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Indianapolis. Officiating as celebrant and homilist was close friend of the family, the Rev. Rick Nagel.
Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 10, in St. Mary Cemetery in Tell City, with the Revs. Rick Nagel and Dennis Duvelius officiating.
G. H. Hermann Funeral Home in Indianapolis is in charge of arrangements.