Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Guard Takes After Grandfather
THE LEGACY OF JERRY BIRCH
Farmington star guard Matt Thomas would step up to the free throw line and knock down 82 of 100 free throws in an effortless, quiet manner. The 16- year- old junior spent his free time on a Sunday afternoon in October raising almost $800 to benefit the American Cancer Society.
Multiple folks pledged to donate $1 per free throw Matt would make, others wrote checks or dropped cash into a large fishbowl at mid-court of the old Farmington gym. Matt’s mother, Kelly Penn, looked onward with an authentic smile and pointed out the bright pink shoes donned by her son. Kelly’s father and Matt’s grandfather, Jerry Birch, would have loathed those bright pink shoes. Ironically, Jerry is the reason behind the shoes. Jerry Birch is the reason for a lot of things.
As Lincoln High School’s star quarterback and standout basketball player during the early 1960s, Jerry learned from a young age that anything worth having was worth earning.
The Birch family didn’t have a lot to call their own in the small community of Clyde, just outside of Cane Hill. They did have Jerry, though. With his boisterous personality and larger-thanlife presence, Jerry always remained in western Washington county. He would become a field man at Barnhill Poultry and befriend owner, Fred Barnhill. When offered his first bonus, Jerry insisted that Fred put that money back into the company. He was more concerned with the organization staying afloat during hard times than he was about himself. In exchange, Fred made a promise — when Jerry retired, Fred would make sure there was a fullyloaded, white GMC just for Jerry. That pickup did finally come many years later.
After retiring, Jerry spent the majority of his time volunteering with his church in Prairie Grove. He would take part in their children’s ministry there and join them on mission trips. Pouring himself into helping others at every opportunity, the former stand- out athlete grew a reputation for brightening the days of everyone around him.
“Everyone was drawn to Jerry,” Kelly explains, “you never had a bad day when you spent time with him.”
Jerry’s work ethic and selfless lifestyle would spill over into all facets of his life.
He raised his two girls, Kelly and Karen, just outside of Farmington near Benish Cabinet shop — making them Cardinals, not Wolves. Jerry would invest all of himself in his girls regardless. He coached softball during the summers in Farmington for several years. Kelly and Karen would always be chasing after their dad’s athletic accolades. He taught them how to achieve what he did, too.
Kelly recalls her father’s mentality, “Work hard and good things will happen.”
Jerry was slow to praise his daughters, he pushed humility much more often than pride — at least in public.
“He was always joking when he was around the family,” Kelly says. Jerry’s season- high in points for a basketball game was 30. Daughters Kelly and Karen knew this very well as anytime they would have a good game, their dad would remind them that they still hadn’t accomplished what he had in Lincoln.
Kelly’s senior
year
at Farmington, though, she would put up 33 points in a game versus Shiloh Christian, breaking her father’s record. Younger sister Karen would join Kelly in making sure their dad knew that he had been bested by his oldest daughter. Jerry’s athletic ability had transfered seamlessly to his daughters, and to his grandson Matt.
Matt started on the Farmington High School basketball team his freshman year, averaging over 19 points per game. The precocious teenager is so rarely flustered he reminds many locals of his grandfather. Cool, calm, and collected, Matt plays the game with an ease rarely seen on a high school court. Matt’s most impressive characteristic, and the ideal that reminds everyone most of his grandfather, though, is found off the court.
Matt Thomas is selfless — just like Jerry. The Farmington guard relishes every opportunity to make “the right” pass to a teammate who may then score easily, and even moreso he adores helping people in need. When he was in fifth grade, Kelly recalls receiving a phone call from the school; she remembers thinking, “Oh no, what has Matt done?” The counselor went onto explain that Matt had approached a classmate enduring the divorce of her parents. Matt had put his arms around her and encouraged her. “Everything will be okay,” Jerry’s grandson consoled.
Jerry Birch passed away May 23 of last year. Cancer took its toll on a man that refused to ever give up. Even