Debbie M. Burgess, 97, of Cleveland, Tennessee, died on Tuesday, July 26, 2016.
She was known by all for her loving kindness, her faithfulness, her dedication and selfless giving. It was plain to see that the joy of the Lord was her strength throughout her entire life. All her children and grandchildren truly did “Rise and call her blessed”. She was a longtime member of United Christian Church, The House of Prayer and prior to her passing she would visit Mercy Tabernacle and was attending God’s Family Fellowship. She retired from Burlington Industries in 1975. She was a hard working woman babysitting her grandchildren, great grandchildren and many others in the community.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William “Arthur” Burgess; her sons, Gary Wayne Burgess and Junior Burgess; her daughters, Charlotte Frazier and Christine Elliott; her sons-in-law, Paul Carter, Ted Ghorley and Kenneth Elliott; her grandchildren, Debbie Patterson, Angie Head and Annette Burgess; her great-grandchild, Paula Leamon; her great-great-grandchildren, Leland and River Bates, Andrew Earwood and Katelyn Morris; her father, Tom McQueen; her mother, Cordia McQueen Howard; and her brothers Sherman Nelson, Frank Nelson, Abel McQueen and Henry McQueen.
She is survived by her daughters, Margie Revis and her husband Finley, Faye Ghorley, Barbara Shamblin and her husband Richard and Jewell Allen and her husband Kenneth; her sons, Kenneth Burgess and his wife Margaret and Paul Burgess and his wife Dortha; 21 grandchildren; 41 great-grandchildren; 40 great-great-grandchildren; and her son-in-law, Lawrence Frazier.
A Remembrance of Life Service will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, July 29 at Jim Rush Funeral and Cremation Services Wildwood Ave. Chapel with Rev. Doug Bell, Rev. Margie Poteat and Rev. John McCann officiating. The interment will follow in the Lebanon Baptist Church Cemetery with her grandsons serving as casket bearers.
The family will receive friends Thursday, July 28 from 6-9 p.m. at the Jim Rush Funeral Home, who has charge of the arrangements.