Mid-Missouri newspaper, 1972: " Former Belle School Sup't Dies Suddenly" Wm. J. (Joe) Birch, 54, was found dead Monday, April 10, 1972, at his home near Gainsville, Ga.. Death was attributed to a heart attack. Mr. Birch lived alone in a mobilehouse at the edge of a lake there. The body was found by a Mr. Mills, Mr. Birch's supervisor, who had kept a check on Birch's health after Birch returned to work. Birch suffered a heart attack before Thanksgiving. He had a school related job with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in the federal government. Mr. Birch was superintendent of the Maries County R-II school district at Belle during the years, 1954 - 1959, when problems of school reorganization were in their beginning. He went to the Rolla school from Belle and went on to head the Newburg school when Walter A. Reed, now banker at Belle, was president of the board of education there. He was a member of the Belle Masonic Lodge and a Shriner. Survivors include a son, Bob of Kansas City; daughter, Mrs. Terry (Carol) Welch, near Camdenton; two grandsons, Pat and Bradley Welch; and a sister at Slater. Mrs. Gwenth Birch lives at Independence. Funeral services are to be Friday at the Braun Funeral Home at Slater. Burial will be at Slater."