Obituaries

JAMES ANTHONY “TONY” BIRCH
Born: June 20, 1931
Date of Passing: December 1, 2022

It is with heavy but full hearts that we announce the passing of Tony Birch on December 1, 2022, at the age of 91 at Victoria General Hospital Palliative Care. He is survived by his 3 children Wayne Birch (Pia), Gary Birch (Michelle), and Audrey-Anne McIvor (Geoff), his stepchildren Doug Menzies (Jan), Greg Menzies (Julia), Mike Menzies (Cesare), daughter-in-law Karen Eastwood (Phil), sister Patricia Adams (Roger) of Hove, England, sister-in-law Irene Birch and many grand and great-grandchildren. Tony was predeceased by his loving wife of 42 years Jean, his brother Ralph Birch and first wife Marjorie.

Tony and Jean were like two peas in a pod, they were made for each other. When Jean passed in August of this year Tony missed her dearly. The families are comforted by knowing they are together again. Tony and Jean loved their time spent at their cottage at Lake of the Woods until their move to Victoria, BC in 1991 when Tony retired from Canadian Airlines. They enjoyed walking through Butchart Gardens and the seawall and parks. It also gave them time to spend with their children and grandchildren living in BC. Moving back to Winnipeg in 2016 gave the Winnipeg children and grandchildren their time to enjoy together.

Born June 20, 1931, in Yorkshire, UK, Tony came to Canada in 1953 to follow his passion of flying. He started flight training during the summer of 1954 in Regina where he eventually became a flight instructor himself. In the spring of 1957 Tony was hired at Ontario Central Airlines in Kenora where he flew various “bush” planes for the next 6 years. It was a job he enjoyed immensely and in April of 1963 Tony took the opportunity to sign on with Trans Air in Winnipeg where he started flying the DC-3. Through mergers the airline eventually became part of Canadian Airlines where Tony had a great career flying many types of aircraft. He retired in 1991 as a Boeing 737 captain having accumulated over 24,000 hours.

The families would like to thank the doctors and staff of Victoria General Hospital for their care of Dad during his time there. Also, we thank the staff at Seine River Retirement Residence where Dad loved living and would not go anywhere else. Dad had said “you can just say he died making his own decisions” which he did.

A private family gathering will be held in the summer. If friends so desire, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CancerCare Manitoba.