Robert Joseph Burch, 82, Fayetteville, died Dec . 25, 2007. He was born June 26, 1925 in the community of Inman, son of John Ambrose and Nell Graham Burch Sr. He was preceded in death by brothers, Walter Graham Burch, and Howard Lester Burch. He was graduated from Fayette County High School and served in the United States Army in the last half of World War II, along with his five brothers. He had been stationed in New Guinea and Australia, serving from 1943 to 1946.

He was graduated from the University of Georgia in 1949 with a degree in Agriculture and worked as a civilian with the United States Army in Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan. He returned to the United States on a Danish freighter that stopped at ports in the Orient, North Africa and Europe. He spent the next eight years in New York City where he took writing courses as a hobby. One of his professors suggested he take up writing as a profession and two years later, in 1962, Viking published a picture story for young children, entitled "A Funny Place to Live." Since then, he published 18 other children's books. His awards include A Notable Book by the American Library Association for "Queenie Peavy", selected as a Notable Book by the American Library Association, and it was also the winner of the 1966 Children's Book Award for the Child Study Association.

Other awards include recognition from the Georgia Writers Association, the Georgia Children's Book Award in 1974 and 1976, and in 1974 received the George C. Stone Center for Children's Books Recognition of Merit Award. His book, "Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain" served as the basis for a NBC television movie, which aired in 1987. On November 5, 2007,he was the first recipient of the W. Porter Kellam Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Georgia. In 1968 The Fulton County Board of Education filmed a portion of his book, "Tyler, Wilkin, and Skee" in the Woolsey school house auditorium, which has since been torn down, and the house and yard of the late Cliff Ballard. All the cast were Fayette Countians. In an article written for the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1982, Burch said, "I've spent interesting years in other parts of the country, other parts of the world, but there was always Fayette County to come back to. Unlike some writers, I can go home again. Although I may not have chosen to live all my adult life in Dixie, I've never considered dying anywhere else."

Services were at the Fayetteville United Methodist Church with the Rev. Mark Westmoreland officiating. Interment was at the Fayetteville City Cemetery. Survivors include brothers, Wilson Burch, John Ambrose Burch Jr., and Jim and Annelle Burch, all of Fayetteville; sisters, Emily B. and Tom Scovill, Clearwater, Fla., and Mary B. Harwood, Charlotte, N. C. Memorial donations may be given to the Southwest Christian Care, 7225 Lester Road, Union City, GA 30291 or the Fayetteville First United Methodist Church, 170 E. Lanier Ave., Fayetteville, GA 30214. Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home, Fayetteville, was in charge.

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