Chuck was born in California, son of Charles and Edna Burch. He grew up in Red Bluff, CA. He received in a B.S. in mathematics at Chico State University, in Chico, CA. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from University of California, Riverside. He served in the Air Force, stationed at Riverside, CA, where he met his wife, Cheri .
After getting his Ph.D., he became a professor of mathematics at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK for 3 years before moving to Ponca City, OK to work doing exploration research with Conoco, Inc, now ConocoPhillips. He moved in 1996 to Albuquerque, NM to work as a liaison between Conoco and the national labs. He retired from ConocoPhillips in 2004.
Cheri was born in Texas, daughter of Cecil (Bill) and Dorothy. She moved several times growing up. She was in the Air Force, where she met her husband, Chuck . She got her B.A. in mathematics and M.S. in computer science from University of California, Riverside after leaving the Air Force. She was a high school teacher of mathematics, computer science, and physics until she retired in 2003. She is currently a student at University of New Mexico, working on her doctorate in Computer Science.