Frank L. Burch Jr.

Franklin "Frank" Lamar Burch Jr., age 73, of Columbus, Georgia passed away on Sunday, February 20, 2022. A visitation for the family and friends of Frank will be held Friday, February 25, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 4071 Macon Rd, Columbus, Georgia 31907, followed by a celebration of Frank's life at 2:00 PM.

Frank was born November 11, 1948 in Wheeling, West Virginia; the son of Franklin Lamar Burch and Florence Nell Moss Burch. Frank graduated from Columbus High School in 1966 and from Columbus College 1970 with a B.S. of Business Administration. Frank joined the United States Army and he became a Sharpshooter who was awarded the National Defense Service Medal for his service in the Vietnam War. Upon the completion of his military service he went to work for Blue Cross Blue Shield and then moved to Columbus Water Works as Information Data Base Specialist retiring after 34 years. Frank married Rhonda Burch September 16, 2005 at Columbus Botanical Gardens. Frank lived his life with a kind heart. He always wanted to give back to those who were serving their country and community and was aware of people around him and wanted to make others feel special. He loved writing poems for family and friends to make sure they knew how he felt about them. He loved telling jokes and making other people smile and feel special, especially with Izzie. Frank was a caring man who knew he was blessed and made it a point to share his blessings in various ways. Such as buying a young soldier’s meal and thanking them for their service personally or he would randomly do things for others. Frank was a member of Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity, he organized and participated in annual fund raisers including the Columbus Water Works golf tournament. Frank was a brilliant man who challenged us mentally. That is one of the first things that attracted Rhonda to him. He was able to win at trivia nights…because he knew so much information (we called it useless information, but he knew it) and had an incredible memory. He was a great problem solver and could visually partition how the pieces of any situation fit together and recall the steps from memory. Frank adored his family and was always trying to make Rhonda happy. He loved spending time with Izzie teaching her the ways of life. His favorite things were going to the beach and he loved all holidays, but especially Halloween, when he would decorate the house inside and out until there was literally an orange glow! His animals were near and dear to him also. He loved the Georgia Bulldogs. Frank loved music of all kinds, but the Eagles was his favorite. He was a member of St Luke United Methodist for many years.

Frank is preceded in death by: his parents, Frank L Burch and Nell Burch; and a niece; Leslie Jones Crank.

Survivors include: his wife, Rhonda Burch; children, Mandie Harris (Brandon), Todd Tilson (Candice); grandchild, Izzie Harris; sister, Kathrine Alexander (Ted); niece, Jana Edwards (Jeremy), and nephew, Adam Jones (Paige).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.shcolumbus.com for the Burch family.