Erie Couple Defect to the Soviet Union

In January of 1988, Theodore Branch, age 43, and his wife, Cheryl Branch, age 40, of Erie who turned their backs on life in the United States were granted permission to live in the Soviet Union. They went to Moscow as tourists in December of 1987 and were granted permission to stay by the Supreme Soviet, the county's parliament.

At a press conference held by the Soviet Foreign Ministry they were identified as Mass Media Specialists by the Ministry’s chief spokesman, Gennady I. Gerasimov, who said the Branch couple came to the Soviet Union as tourists and decided that they did not want to return to their home in Pennsylvania. "They appealed to the authorities for permission to stay in the Soviet Union as permanent residents and political emigres," said spokesman, Gennady I. Gerasimov.

"The Branch couple appealed to the authorities for permission to stay in the Soviet Union as permanent residents and political emigres," Gerasimov said. "In a letter to the authorities, they said it was their conviction that more attention is paid to law and order in the Soviet Union, that socialism opens real possibilities for everyone in society and that it is a more satisfactory alternative to capitalism," Gerasimov said.

Approved by Parliament, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal Parliament formally approved the Branch’s application for permanent residence as political emigrants. Gerasimov said the couple "will be placed in work according to their specialty and provided with accommodation."

Theodore Branch's father, Clarence Branch, said that his son apparently had been convinced by a visiting Soviet woman that life is better under socialism. The elder Branch said that he believed the couple, who lived with him until they left for a tour of the Soviet Union, have been married since the 1970s, adding that they have no children. He said his son had worked for WGBG-AM radio station in Mount Dora, Florida, where he was involved as a salesman and disc jockey. He later became station manager of the now-defunct operation. Cheryl Branch apparently also worked in sales at the radio station.

The Branches became embittered after the 1986 bankruptcy of WGBG-AM. They were awarded $6,500 in back pay and $15,000 in legal fees from the Central Florida Broadcasting Company, but were unable to collect.

Theodore Branch bounced from job to job, often filing grievances with various government agencies, finally moving to Erie in 1987. Clarence Branch said that his son "was trying so hard to get work because we're not rich — we're living on Social Security and he didn't want to stay here with us. I was hoping that he would get a steady job that would support them." The father said that before the couple left Theodore Branch had been visited by a Soviet woman who just painted him a rosy picture of life in the Soviet Union.

Life in the Soviet Union was short lived for the Branch couple, in September of 1988 the couple return to the United States.

Theodore Branch and his wife decided to return believing that American officials had a job and an apartment waiting for him, but the State Department denied making any offers to the Branch couple other than the services available to any citizen abroad, which is a repatriation loan to help transport them to the nearest port of entry in the United States. The Branches never followed up on the services offered to them.