Otto Buch

Otto Paul Buch, the fifth of six children of Henry Herman and Augusta (Westphal) Buch, was born on his parent's farm in the East Liberty neighborhood north of Malvern, Iowa on March 13, 1918. He attended Hillsdale School and graduated from the Glenwood High School in 1936. The family attended St. John's Lutheran Church near Hastings, Iowa where Otto and his sister Dorothy were confirmed on Palm Sunday in 1935. Otto helped with the family farm until 1941 when he attended sheet metal school in Omaha, Nebraska. In late summer of 1941, Otto went to work at an aircraft factory in California. He returned home in 1942 to help with the family farm until March when he was inducted into the U. S. Army. Otto attended Officer Candidate School graduating as a Second Lieutenant. Otto and Hazel Lillian Hasselquist of Malvern were married in Omaha on April 22, 1943. Their marriage was blessed with two daughters, Cheryl and Diane. Still in the army, Otto was stationed at Okinawa and later in Japan. Following his discharge, Otto returned to Mills County, Iowa settling in Silver City where he operated a service station and Hazel owned a beauty salon.
In 1955, the family moved to Oregon and later to California, Minnesota, and Tampa, Florida where Otto owned two laundry facilities. Otto and Hazel moved to Morrison, Tennessee in 1976 and Otto worked as a heating and air-conditioning technician.
Otto and Hazel had been married for 59 years when Hazel died on April 3, 2002. Otto died on December 21, 2002 at the United Regional Medical Center in Manchester, Tennessee. He had attained the age of 84 years, 9 months, and 8 days.
In addition to his wife Hazel, Otto was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Helen Dickersbach, and his brother Carl Buch. He is survived by his daughters Cheryl Jones and her husband Skip of Manassas, VA and Diane Watson and her husband Rick of Wartrace, TN; granddaughter Samantha Rugh of Kissimmee, FL; brothers Julius Buch of Glenwood, IA and Ernest Buch of Edmond, OK; sister Dorothy Brandt of Council Bluffs, IA; sister-in-law Dorothy Buch of Glenwood, IA; nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends.