Ernest Earl Branch passed away in Denton, Texas on Monday, February 28, 2022. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 11, 1944.  He was 78.  He had one brother and two half-sisters.  He grew up in Tampa, Florida, where he attended Plant High School.  He graduated from Florida State University and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam war.  Ernest met his wife of 52 years, Doris Crone, another Air Force officer, at a base in Indiana; and they married in Bangkok, Thailand in 1969.   He is survived by his wife and four children, Scott Albritton, Eric W. Branch, Sean G. Branch, and Brandy E. Polley, ten grandchildren and one great grandchild, and by his sister, Shirly Culbertson, of Homewood, Illinois.  While working on his graduate degree at North Texas State University, he worked a few years as a Denton police officer.  His main occupation after that was financial examiner for various state insurance departments.   He retired in 2009 and enjoyed spending several winters back in Florida playing shuffleboard and 8Ball with other retirees.  His sister Bobby Jean Bowen and brother Paul Branch preceded him in death.   He is also preceded in death by his parents Earl Branch and Rosella Gerber.