WIFE OF ERNEST M. BURGESS (US AIR FORCE)
It was supposed to have been a marriage that wouldn't last. A widow with five children was marrying a man 14 years her junior. But Inez M. Winsett Burgess and E. M. 'Pete' Burgess proved them wrong. The two, who married when she was 37 and he was 23, would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in February. Mrs. Burgess, 86, died Tuesday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Hospital. Services will be at noon Thursday at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel with burial in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Mrs. Burgess's first husband, Walter Winsett, died of leukemia in 1942, leaving her with five children. As a widow she eked out a living as best she could at a time when few women worked outside the home. During World War II, Mrs. Burgess riveted aluminum panels on warplanes at Curtis-Wright Aircraft in St. Louis. Later in the war, she moved to Memphis and helped make rubber life rafts at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Born in Rienzi, Miss. to a farmer and a homemaker, she was one of six siblings. "She was the wheel and we were just the spokes," said her daughter, Barbara W. Patterson of Memphis. "I'm sure we won't roll quite as well anymore." Patterson said her mother kept the family together as best she could, but when finances were tight, she sent her children to orphanages for six or seven months at a time until she could afford to bring the family back together. "She was used to doing a man's labor," Patterson said, even hitchhiking between Memphis and St. Louis in search of work. Burgess, a Navy veteran, met his future wife on the rooftop of the Claridge Hotel in downtown Memphis. "Her date didn't show up. So she kept throwing paper wads at me and finally got my attention," said Burgess. They danced the night away. Fifteen months later they married. "We just loved each other," said Burgess. "If we had two of something we always gave one away to someone less fortunate...we found out that you can get more by giving more." Despite the hardships in her life, Mrs. Burgess found time to write poetry and a personal essay about a hero. They were published in the old Memphis Press-Scimitar. Her poem said, in part: "I have seen a mother at a crib so I know what love is; I have looked into the eyes of a child, so I know what faith is; I have seen a rainbow, so I know what beauty is; I have felt the pounding of the sea, so I know what power is...I have seen and felt all these things, so I know what God is." She gave birth to a son after a long labor at John Gaston Hospital on March 22, 1948. The doctor, Billy Bryant, was afraid he was going to lose his patient because Mrs. Burgess had broken her pelvis and dislocated her spine in an automobile accident 13 years earlier. But both mother and child survived. "I'm sure I would have died if I had not had the best little doctor in Memphis to stay with me for 13 long hours doing everything in his power - even praying for me - until the last minute..." she wrote to the newspaper. Burgess, who worked at an office machines company at the time, said the couple had no insurance, so he paid the doctor what he could: "I gave him a brand new Smith Corona typewriter in a carrying case. That was his pay. That and a thank you'' for saving his wife and son. In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Burgess leaves three sons, Walter P. 'Buddy' Winsett and Marion H. Winsett, both of Houston, Texas, and E. Michael Burgess of Nesbit, Miss.; 19 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12/7/1994)
It was supposed to have been a marriage that wouldn't last. A widow with five children was marrying a man 14 years her junior. But Inez M. Winsett Burgess and E. M. 'Pete' Burgess proved them wrong. The two, who married when she was 37 and he was 23, would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in February. Mrs. Burgess, 86, died Tuesday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Hospital. Services will be at noon Thursday at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel with burial in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Mrs. Burgess's first husband, Walter Winsett, died of leukemia in 1942, leaving her with five children. As a widow she eked out a living as best she could at a time when few women worked outside the home. During World War II, Mrs. Burgess riveted aluminum panels on warplanes at Curtis-Wright Aircraft in St. Louis. Later in the war, she moved to Memphis and helped make rubber life rafts at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Born in Rienzi, Miss. to a farmer and a homemaker, she was one of six siblings. "She was the wheel and we were just the spokes," said her daughter, Barbara W. Patterson of Memphis. "I'm sure we won't roll quite as well anymore." Patterson said her mother kept the family together as best she could, but when finances were tight, she sent her children to orphanages for six or seven months at a time until she could afford to bring the family back together. "She was used to doing a man's labor," Patterson said, even hitchhiking between Memphis and St. Louis in search of work. Burgess, a Navy veteran, met his future wife on the rooftop of the Claridge Hotel in downtown Memphis. "Her date didn't show up. So she kept throwing paper wads at me and finally got my attention," said Burgess. They danced the night away. Fifteen months later they married. "We just loved each other," said Burgess. "If we had two of something we always gave one away to someone less fortunate...we found out that you can get more by giving more." Despite the hardships in her life, Mrs. Burgess found time to write poetry and a personal essay about a hero. They were published in the old Memphis Press-Scimitar. Her poem said, in part: "I have seen a mother at a crib so I know what love is; I have looked into the eyes of a child, so I know what faith is; I have seen a rainbow, so I know what beauty is; I have felt the pounding of the sea, so I know what power is...I have seen and felt all these things, so I know what God is." She gave birth to a son after a long labor at John Gaston Hospital on March 22, 1948. The doctor, Billy Bryant, was afraid he was going to lose his patient because Mrs. Burgess had broken her pelvis and dislocated her spine in an automobile accident 13 years earlier. But both mother and child survived. "I'm sure I would have died if I had not had the best little doctor in Memphis to stay with me for 13 long hours doing everything in his power - even praying for me - until the last minute..." she wrote to the newspaper. Burgess, who worked at an office machines company at the time, said the couple had no insurance, so he paid the doctor what he could: "I gave him a brand new Smith Corona typewriter in a carrying case. That was his pay. That and a thank you'' for saving his wife and son. In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Burgess leaves three sons, Walter P. 'Buddy' Winsett and Marion H. Winsett, both of Houston, Texas, and E. Michael Burgess of Nesbit, Miss.; 19 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12/7/1994)
WIFE OF ERNEST M. BURGESS (US AIR FORCE)
It was supposed to have been a marriage that wouldn't last. A widow with five children was marrying a man 14 years her junior. But Inez M. Winsett Burgess and E. M. 'Pete' Burgess proved them wrong. The two, who married when she was 37 and he was 23, would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in February. Mrs. Burgess, 86, died Tuesday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Hospital. Services will be at noon Thursday at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel with burial in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Mrs. Burgess's first husband, Walter Winsett, died of leukemia in 1942, leaving her with five children. As a widow she eked out a living as best she could at a time when few women worked outside the home. During World War II, Mrs. Burgess riveted aluminum panels on warplanes at Curtis-Wright Aircraft in St. Louis. Later in the war, she moved to Memphis and helped make rubber life rafts at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Born in Rienzi, Miss. to a farmer and a homemaker, she was one of six siblings. "She was the wheel and we were just the spokes," said her daughter, Barbara W. Patterson of Memphis. "I'm sure we won't roll quite as well anymore." Patterson said her mother kept the family together as best she could, but when finances were tight, she sent her children to orphanages for six or seven months at a time until she could afford to bring the family back together. "She was used to doing a man's labor," Patterson said, even hitchhiking between Memphis and St. Louis in search of work. Burgess, a Navy veteran, met his future wife on the rooftop of the Claridge Hotel in downtown Memphis. "Her date didn't show up. So she kept throwing paper wads at me and finally got my attention," said Burgess. They danced the night away. Fifteen months later they married. "We just loved each other," said Burgess. "If we had two of something we always gave one away to someone less fortunate...we found out that you can get more by giving more." Despite the hardships in her life, Mrs. Burgess found time to write poetry and a personal essay about a hero. They were published in the old Memphis Press-Scimitar. Her poem said, in part: "I have seen a mother at a crib so I know what love is; I have looked into the eyes of a child, so I know what faith is; I have seen a rainbow, so I know what beauty is; I have felt the pounding of the sea, so I know what power is...I have seen and felt all these things, so I know what God is." She gave birth to a son after a long labor at John Gaston Hospital on March 22, 1948. The doctor, Billy Bryant, was afraid he was going to lose his patient because Mrs. Burgess had broken her pelvis and dislocated her spine in an automobile accident 13 years earlier. But both mother and child survived. "I'm sure I would have died if I had not had the best little doctor in Memphis to stay with me for 13 long hours doing everything in his power - even praying for me - until the last minute..." she wrote to the newspaper. Burgess, who worked at an office machines company at the time, said the couple had no insurance, so he paid the doctor what he could: "I gave him a brand new Smith Corona typewriter in a carrying case. That was his pay. That and a thank you'' for saving his wife and son. In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Burgess leaves three sons, Walter P. 'Buddy' Winsett and Marion H. Winsett, both of Houston, Texas, and E. Michael Burgess of Nesbit, Miss.; 19 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12/7/1994)
It was supposed to have been a marriage that wouldn't last. A widow with five children was marrying a man 14 years her junior. But Inez M. Winsett Burgess and E. M. 'Pete' Burgess proved them wrong. The two, who married when she was 37 and he was 23, would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in February. Mrs. Burgess, 86, died Tuesday of a heart attack at St. Joseph Hospital. Services will be at noon Thursday at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel with burial in West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. Mrs. Burgess's first husband, Walter Winsett, died of leukemia in 1942, leaving her with five children. As a widow she eked out a living as best she could at a time when few women worked outside the home. During World War II, Mrs. Burgess riveted aluminum panels on warplanes at Curtis-Wright Aircraft in St. Louis. Later in the war, she moved to Memphis and helped make rubber life rafts at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Born in Rienzi, Miss. to a farmer and a homemaker, she was one of six siblings. "She was the wheel and we were just the spokes," said her daughter, Barbara W. Patterson of Memphis. "I'm sure we won't roll quite as well anymore." Patterson said her mother kept the family together as best she could, but when finances were tight, she sent her children to orphanages for six or seven months at a time until she could afford to bring the family back together. "She was used to doing a man's labor," Patterson said, even hitchhiking between Memphis and St. Louis in search of work. Burgess, a Navy veteran, met his future wife on the rooftop of the Claridge Hotel in downtown Memphis. "Her date didn't show up. So she kept throwing paper wads at me and finally got my attention," said Burgess. They danced the night away. Fifteen months later they married. "We just loved each other," said Burgess. "If we had two of something we always gave one away to someone less fortunate...we found out that you can get more by giving more." Despite the hardships in her life, Mrs. Burgess found time to write poetry and a personal essay about a hero. They were published in the old Memphis Press-Scimitar. Her poem said, in part: "I have seen a mother at a crib so I know what love is; I have looked into the eyes of a child, so I know what faith is; I have seen a rainbow, so I know what beauty is; I have felt the pounding of the sea, so I know what power is...I have seen and felt all these things, so I know what God is." She gave birth to a son after a long labor at John Gaston Hospital on March 22, 1948. The doctor, Billy Bryant, was afraid he was going to lose his patient because Mrs. Burgess had broken her pelvis and dislocated her spine in an automobile accident 13 years earlier. But both mother and child survived. "I'm sure I would have died if I had not had the best little doctor in Memphis to stay with me for 13 long hours doing everything in his power - even praying for me - until the last minute..." she wrote to the newspaper. Burgess, who worked at an office machines company at the time, said the couple had no insurance, so he paid the doctor what he could: "I gave him a brand new Smith Corona typewriter in a carrying case. That was his pay. That and a thank you'' for saving his wife and son. In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Burgess leaves three sons, Walter P. 'Buddy' Winsett and Marion H. Winsett, both of Houston, Texas, and E. Michael Burgess of Nesbit, Miss.; 19 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12/7/1994)
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