Henry A. Minch, WWII veteran, engineer

Henry A. Minch, who had been assistant chief engineer for the Maryland Public Service Commission and a World War II veteran, died Nov. 15 of heart failure at College Manor Nursing Home in Lutherville. He was 92.

The son of Frank Minch, a city firefighter, and Marie Minch, a homemaker, Henry August Minch was born and raised in East Baltimore.

A Polytechnic Institute graduate, Mr. Minch enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1942 where he served as a motor machinist mate second class until being discharged in 1946.

He went to work for the PSC in 1949, and while working for the commission by day, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1957 at night from the Johns Hopkins University.

When he retired from the Public Service Commission in 1981, he was assistant chief engineer.

In his retirement, he worked with his wife, the former M. Virginia “Ginny” Harrison, whom he married in 1951, in her real estate business, Ginny Minch & Co.

Mrs. Minch died earlier this year.

Alongtime resident of the Charlesbrooke neighborhood of Baltimore County, the couple, who both retired when she closed her business in 1984, also enjoyed spending time at their condominium in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Mr. Minch was a volunteer tour guide at the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. Mr. Minch was an accomplished prestidigitator who particularly enjoyed showing children how he could remove his thumb from his hand, family members said. He also played piano and directed a choir at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Ruxton, where he had been a longtime communicant.

He and his wife, who were world travelers, also enjoyed taking cruises and vacationing at a Wyoming dude ranch.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at his church, 1401 Carrollton Ave.

Mr. Minch is survived by two sons, Paul H. Minch of Lutherville and John K. Keyes of Woodland Hills, Calif.; a brother, Frank P. Minch of Shrewsbury, Pa.; and three grandchildren.