D. Naomi Burch

D. Naomi Burch, an educator for more than forty years, slipped her
earthly bonds on Jan. 8, 2013, after two years of declining health.

She was born New Year’s Day in 1927, the only child of the late Mac L.
and Marie Williams Braden, who were farmers in Amsterdam, Mo. She
graduated in 1945 from Butler (Missouri) High School, where she was a
classmate of her future husband Charles Burch.

Naomi received an associate degree from Southwest Baptist College and
taught for three years in the one-room Star and Miller schools in
Bates County, Missouri. She then pursued a bachelor’s degree in
education at the University of Missouri in Columbia, and she and
Charles married during their senior year, on Dec. 22, 1950. The
newlyweds moved to Burlington, Vt., where Charles took a job at the
University of Vermont.

After her daughters Peggy and Holly were born, Naomi taught at various
schools across the country, including in Fort Collins, Colo., and
Garden City, Kans., as the family moved for Charles’s work. They
settled in Chambersburg, Pa., where Naomi taught elementary and
middle-school students for the duration of her long career. She
retired in 1992.

An accomplished seamstress, gardener, cook, and homemaker, Naomi was
dedicated in her personal as well as her professional life. She
created dresses to order for her daughters and granddaughters and
spent two years making intricately designed needlework Christmas
stockings for her grandchildren. Her homemade tomato juice was a
family staple, and her Thanksgiving feasts, with homegrown vegetables
and pecan pies, were works of art. Naomi had a lifelong love of horses
and cats, including the indomitable Chessie, her pet of the last
fifteen years.

Though of diminutive stature, she had a commanding presence in the
classroom, respected for her teaching skills and ability to maintain
calm and discipline. One former student, now a professor at the
University of Virginia, recalls a showdown between Mrs. Burch and a
middle-school boy twice her height, in which one assertive glance sent
him back to his seat.

During the 1971-72 academic year, Naomi did it all. While she taught
full-time and earned her master’s degree in education from
Shippensburg University, the family hosted an exchange student from
Bogota, Colombia.

She and Charley traveled the globe, visiting Russia, India, and South
America. While in India, they visited the Taj Mahal on the night of a
full moon. They took a 22-day trek on the old Inca Trail in Peru from
Cuzco to Machu Picchu, camping on ice along the way.

Naomi was a founding member and president of the Rho Chapter of Alpha
Delta Kappa, the international society of women educators. She was
also a member of the American Association of University Women and the
Pennsylvania State Education Association.

A member of St. Paul United Methodist Church for 47 years, Naomi
served 18 years on the church financial committee, eight years as its
chairperson, and was a member of the board of trustees.

She is survived by her husband Charley; daughter Peggy Burch of
Memphis, Tenn.; daughter and son-in-law Holly Burch and Clif Wieden of
Falmouth, Mass.; and granddaughters, Zoe and Nora Kahn, who knew her
as “Nomi.” She also leaves two step-grandchildren, Cliff Wieden IV and
Conan Wieden.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at St.
Paul United Methodist Chuch, 750 Norland Ave., Chambersburg, Pa.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m., and a reception will follow at the
church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Paul United Methodist
Church.