Birchall married Pauline Mary Jones at Sheffield register office on 2 June 1956. They had two sons, Shaun and Timothy.
James Derek Birchall died in a traffic accident. He was “struck by a vehicle on a pedestrian crossing in London on 30 November 1995. After several days on a life-support machine he died without regaining consciousness on 7 December.” He was buried at St John the Evangelist's Church, Norley, alongside his wife, who had died five years earlier.