Birchmier, The Rev. Charles

The Rev. Charles Birchmier, 89, of Marion, died Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, at Westridge Care Center. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, with a visitation one hour before, at Kenwood Park United Methodist Church with the Rev. Michael Metz. Burial will be held at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.

He was born in Davis County, Iowa, on Oct. 30, 1923, the son of Charles and Grace McDowell Birchmier of R.R. Bloomfield. After attending Bible College in Des Moines, he married Charlene Gates of Des Moines on June 9, 1945. A Bachelor of Arts degree was earned at Taylor University, Upland Indiana and a Divinity degree at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Ill. The Rev. Birchmier spent 40 years in the pastoral ministry in Methodist churches in Indiana and Iowa, retiring in 1988. Among these churches were Radcliffe, Plymouth, DeWitt, West Bend, Epworth in Fort Dodge, St. Paul's in Waterloo and Marengo. He was on various boards and commissions of the Iowa Methodist Conference including Missions, Ministry, Pensions, Education and Camps. He was youth camp leader at Lake Okoboji and director of Youth Camps at Clear Lake for several years.

He is survived by his two daughters, Vonda Birchmier and Evone (Dave) Vognsen, both of Cedar Rapids; and a son, David of Portland, Ore.; and two grandchildren, Joshua Vognsen and Maria Vognsen and Joshua's friend, Kaitlin Schleis.

Preceded in death by his wife, Charlene; parents, Charles and Grace Birchmier; a brother, Larval Birchmier; and a sister, Beulah Cremer.

Please leave an online condolence for the family at under Obituaries.

Published in The Gazette Feb. 12, 2013.