Mark Birch

Mark F. Birch, 95, of North Conway passed early Tuesday morning June 1, 2010.

From the very start through his mid-eighties, Mark preferred to roam the hills and spend days in the wild by himself more than any other activity. He found his passion in the challenge of the hunt and more importantly, being immersed in the outdoors. Nothing defined the man more than his undying dedication to the woods.

Mark established the core of a familial love for the outdoors that today is modeled in three subsequent generations. He reveled in the joy his children, their children, and ultimately his great grandchildren also found in the wild. Nothing pleased him more. The son of poor Irish immigrants, he came to live in North Conway some 92 years ago and never again left the community he found so beautiful. Those wonderful White Mountains haunted his thoughts each year as he anticipated his annual fall wanderings within them.

Mark was a family man who loved his children and dear wife of 69 years. Self-reliance was the hallmark of his family's actions and led each of its members to his/her own success and happiness. He set the example of achievement as a generationally-rare college attendee who established with and ran his own successful electrical contract company. Anyone fortunate enough to take an afternoon ride with him would be entertained with hours of yarns about the families he knew and houses he worked during his long career and the stories that accompanied each.

Mark's later years were spent in service and devotion to his wife Geraldine and her heroic struggle through failing health. Though eventually blind and subservient to a grueling schedule of dialysis, she took solace in the comfort of having her faithful and loving husband within earshot and his unfailing attention to her every need.

Our father cherished life and fought to make the world a happier place for his family. In his final two years, he endured the effects of a severe stroke that stole from him