Gordon Rhea Birt

Gordon Rhea Birt, 75, of Greencastle, went to be with the Lord on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.

He was born Nov. 6, 1937 in Greencastle to Harold and Virginia (Myers) Birt. He married his first and only love, Shirley (Clark) Birt on Nov. 23, 1955 and she survives.

Gordon had worked at Gardner's Food Market as a teenager and then was hired at IBM in January 1956. He and Shirley relocated to Mechanicsburg, Pa., in 1986 and retired from IBM after 36 years. He also worked for Morrison-Knudsen for 15 years in Gaithersburg, Md., and Chillicothe, Ill., before returning to Greencastle to do what he enjoyed the most, spending time with family and friends, farming and making his bride happy. He was a member of the Greencastle Christian Church.

He is survived by his wife; four sons, Ron (Mary) Birt of Greencastle, Jerry (Karen) Birt of Greencastle, Bob (Laura) Birt of Pennsylvania and Glen (Paula) Birt of Greencastle; a daughter, Carolyn (Maurice) Butler of Greencastle; four sisters, Karen (Alva) Wood of Greencastle, Jean (James) Travis of Greenwood, Joyce (Chuck) Akers of Arizona and Jan Maes of Arizona; three brothers, Jim (Janet) Birt of Arizona, Darryl (Lynette) Starr of Greencastle and Kevin (Suzy) Starr of Greencastle; and brother-in-law Ed Dixon of Arizona. He was extremely proud of his 13 grandchildren, Kacie (Luke) Chase, Daniel (Lindsey) Birt, Miranda (Brent) Heavin, Kyle Birt, Lesli (Lee) Fordice, Matt (Ashton) Butler, Kayla Birt, Bailey (Kyle) Beaty, Aaron Birt, Luke Birt, Kara Birt, Brittany Birt and Olivia Birt; eight great-grandchildren, Sterling Chase, Jaxon Birt, Nelson Chase, Mackinley Heavin, Hallie Birt, Tarik Chase, Dia Chase and Mason Heavin.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Judy Dixon; brother Doyne Starr; and a grandson, Mackinley Butler.

A celebration of life service will be conducted by the grandchildren at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Greencastle Christian Church. Interment will follow at the Forest Hill Cemetery.

The family will receive friends on Friday, Oct. 25 from 4-8 p.m. at Greencastle Christian Church.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Gordon's name to the charity of their choice or to his favorite charity, The Putnam County Foundation: Greencastle High School Alumni Associationn or Putnam County 4-H Fair.

Condolences and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family c/o www.BittlesandHurt.com.