 Desch was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1907 into a family of German descent whose livelihood was blacksmithing and wagon-making.He attended the Catholic elementary school of his neighborhood parish, then won a scholarship to the preparatory (high) school of the University of Dayton.While attending college at University of Dayton, Desch worked evenings as an inspector at Day-Fan Electric in Dayton, supervising radio testing and production.