Hazel Burgert Obituary

Hazel M. Burgert

Funeral Services for Hazel May Burgert, 94, Lawrence, will be 3:00 p.m. Monday, November 12, 2012 at Central United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery. She died Thursday, November 8, 2012 at Presbyterian Manor.

Hazel was born June 21, 1918 in Brooklyn, IA, the daughter of Albert Jay and Nellie Viola (Phillips) Leeper. Her family moved to Elvira, a farming community in Clinton County, Iowa. After attending the Teacher's College at Cedar Falls, she returned to teach in a one-room schoolhouse for six years. She and her sister then joined the WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps) from 1943-1945. She was recently interviewed and filmed for the Library of Congress Veterans' History Project, as part of the history of women in WWII. She met Lloyd Burgert while in the service, and returned to Lawrence to work with him in the shoe repair shop on Massachusetts Street until 1987.

Hazel was a charter member of the Evangelical United Brethren Church on 15th and Massachusetts Street, which is now Central United Methodist Church. She remained active in that congregation until 2010. She taught Sunday School and served on the administrative board, among other things. She was active in both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. She was a member and officer of Friendship Rebekah Lodge 754 in Lawrence, and Minerva Rebekah Lodge 146 in Eudora, receiving one of the highest honors bestowed by the companion Oddfellows Lodge. She volunteered at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for ten years, with special interest in educating diabetes patients.

She was married to Lloyd L. Burgert on November 11, 1945, Veterans' Day, in Albuquerque, NM. He preceded her in death on April 30, 1994.

She is survived by her children and their spouses and families, Suzanne and Norman Brahm, New York, Tim and Janeal Burgert of Utah, and James and Doris Burgert of Wichita. She had eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by four sisters and two brothers.

The family will greet friends from 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, November, 11, 2012 at the Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in her name may be given to Central United Methodist Church, American Diabetes Association, or to LINK (Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen) and sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.

Online condolence may be sent to: www.warrenmcelwain.com

Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries.LJWorld.com.