Obituary for Evelyn Jean Burns
Evelyn Jean (Eilers) Burns was born August 20, 1931, to Frederick Gerhard Eilers and Pearl Eva Valentine (Dail) Eilers in Taloga, Dewey County, Oklahoma. The day before she was born her father came down with scarlet fever, so the birth took place at the neighbor's house next door.
The family moved to Leedey, Oklahoma, where the Eilers had a grocery and meat market. Unfortunately, they lost this enterprise in the Great Depression, and then moved to Mooreland, Oklahoma in 1934.
Jean was the second of seven children born to the Eilers family and they all attended Mooreland Public Schools. She was very active in music, basketball, 4-H, and the United Methodist Church. Jean and her eldest sister, June, sang at many banquets, graduations, weddings, church, and community events.
She played on the Mooreland Girls Basketball team, and the team made it to the state championships twice. She was named All State Post Guard in 1949. Twenty-five years later, she was named the Best Post Guard of the 1940s decade, an honor bestowed by the Jim Thorpe Committee.
In 4-H, Jean showed steers from the Eilers Hereford Ranch for many years. Her calf won first place in the American Royal in Kansas City in 1947.
Jean enrolled at Oklahoma A&M as a home economics major. She played basketball on the varsity team and sang with the symphonic choir, and was an honor pledge with Kappa Phi.
Jean and her childhood sweetheart, Charlie Arch Burns, were married January 28, 1951. Charlie graduated that spring and they moved to Bonesteel, South Dakota, where he taught veterans on Farm Training. In August they moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he began his military commitment. After that, they transferred to Fort Ord, California. Charlie left for Korea in May 1952, and returned in May 1953. Their first child, Doug Burns, was born in Mooreland while Charlie served in Korea. Deborah Burns was born in 1954, and Taylor Burns was born in 1957.
Charlie's career with the Co-op Extension took the family from Hobart to Cheyenne, to Stillwater, Enid, Tulsa and back to Stillwater. Deborah and Taylor were born in Hobart, Oklahoma. Charlie worked on his education by going to summer school every summer, taking classes in Colorado or Stillwater, always taking the family with him. While in Colorado, the family camped out two summers up Poudre Canyon above Fort Collins while Charlie attended classes during the day. After ten years, he finished his master's degree. The family took sabbatical leave and moved to Stillwater so that Charlie could pursue his doctorate.
While In Cheyenne, Jean was honored to sing and entertain with Lorena Males, a very talented and extraordinary lady. They performed all over western Oklahoma. Jean was also a member of the Sorosis Club- the first professional women's club, which was founded in 1868 in New York City. They were instrumental in starting the Roger Mills Public Library.
Jean's main job was to hold the family together, managing extremely busy children through school, sports, church, scouts, and music. She was a scout mom and a basketball team mother. Genealogy was a big interest to Jean, and she traced her family to sixteen persons who came over on the Mayflower. She made seven trips to Salt Lake City with Doris Walton, and she conducted searches from MEHCS in Boston, Massachusetts at the Mayflower Library. She found a family relationship to Queen Drake's son and grandson, and to Charlemagne, plus links to Barack Obama.
Charlie retired in 1985 and they bought a travel trailer and started their many trips to Mexico and Alaska. They traveled to Anchorage and Nome, Alaska a total of four times. They loved to fish, and traveled all over Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, and Alaska. They also went on charters for salmon and halibut.
Bragging rights include: taking a trip all the way to Oregon and back as a teenager in the back of a Model A Ford with her Grandfather, Pop Floyd Dail; surviving 5 cancers and 25 surgeries; being married for 70 years; visiting all 50 states; driving around the Kentucky Derby track; throwing tea overboard on the USS Constitution in Boston; fishing at the mouth of the Nome River alongside a white seal pup; being an avid sports fan and being kissed by Marcus Smart; being an active Democrat and an active member of the Stillwater chapter of PFLAG; being an active music attendee at OSU Friends of Music and a Methodist choir member; and serving as a volunteer for the Stillwater Hospital.
Jean died peacefully on April 10th, 2023, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Charlie Arch Burns.
She is survived by their three children Doug Burns and his wife Nickie, Deborah Cochran and her husband Larry Cochran, and Taylor Burns and his wife Lou Anne Burns; grandchildren and great-grandchildren Eric and Snow Burns and their children Calvin and Camille, Whitney and Tom Willard and their children Weston and Charley, Drew Cochran and his fiancé Shayna and his daughter Savannah, and Jared Draney.
The family moved to Leedey, Oklahoma, where the Eilers had a grocery and meat market. Unfortunately, they lost this enterprise in the Great Depression, and then moved to Mooreland, Oklahoma in 1934.
Jean was the second of seven children born to the Eilers family and they all attended Mooreland Public Schools. She was very active in music, basketball, 4-H, and the United Methodist Church. Jean and her eldest sister, June, sang at many banquets, graduations, weddings, church, and community events.
She played on the Mooreland Girls Basketball team, and the team made it to the state championships twice. She was named All State Post Guard in 1949. Twenty-five years later, she was named the Best Post Guard of the 1940s decade, an honor bestowed by the Jim Thorpe Committee.
In 4-H, Jean showed steers from the Eilers Hereford Ranch for many years. Her calf won first place in the American Royal in Kansas City in 1947.
Jean enrolled at Oklahoma A&M as a home economics major. She played basketball on the varsity team and sang with the symphonic choir, and was an honor pledge with Kappa Phi.
Jean and her childhood sweetheart, Charlie Arch Burns, were married January 28, 1951. Charlie graduated that spring and they moved to Bonesteel, South Dakota, where he taught veterans on Farm Training. In August they moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he began his military commitment. After that, they transferred to Fort Ord, California. Charlie left for Korea in May 1952, and returned in May 1953. Their first child, Doug Burns, was born in Mooreland while Charlie served in Korea. Deborah Burns was born in 1954, and Taylor Burns was born in 1957.
Charlie's career with the Co-op Extension took the family from Hobart to Cheyenne, to Stillwater, Enid, Tulsa and back to Stillwater. Deborah and Taylor were born in Hobart, Oklahoma. Charlie worked on his education by going to summer school every summer, taking classes in Colorado or Stillwater, always taking the family with him. While in Colorado, the family camped out two summers up Poudre Canyon above Fort Collins while Charlie attended classes during the day. After ten years, he finished his master's degree. The family took sabbatical leave and moved to Stillwater so that Charlie could pursue his doctorate.
While In Cheyenne, Jean was honored to sing and entertain with Lorena Males, a very talented and extraordinary lady. They performed all over western Oklahoma. Jean was also a member of the Sorosis Club- the first professional women's club, which was founded in 1868 in New York City. They were instrumental in starting the Roger Mills Public Library.
Jean's main job was to hold the family together, managing extremely busy children through school, sports, church, scouts, and music. She was a scout mom and a basketball team mother. Genealogy was a big interest to Jean, and she traced her family to sixteen persons who came over on the Mayflower. She made seven trips to Salt Lake City with Doris Walton, and she conducted searches from MEHCS in Boston, Massachusetts at the Mayflower Library. She found a family relationship to Queen Drake's son and grandson, and to Charlemagne, plus links to Barack Obama.
Charlie retired in 1985 and they bought a travel trailer and started their many trips to Mexico and Alaska. They traveled to Anchorage and Nome, Alaska a total of four times. They loved to fish, and traveled all over Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, and Alaska. They also went on charters for salmon and halibut.
Bragging rights include: taking a trip all the way to Oregon and back as a teenager in the back of a Model A Ford with her Grandfather, Pop Floyd Dail; surviving 5 cancers and 25 surgeries; being married for 70 years; visiting all 50 states; driving around the Kentucky Derby track; throwing tea overboard on the USS Constitution in Boston; fishing at the mouth of the Nome River alongside a white seal pup; being an avid sports fan and being kissed by Marcus Smart; being an active Democrat and an active member of the Stillwater chapter of PFLAG; being an active music attendee at OSU Friends of Music and a Methodist choir member; and serving as a volunteer for the Stillwater Hospital.
Jean died peacefully on April 10th, 2023, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Charlie Arch Burns.
She is survived by their three children Doug Burns and his wife Nickie, Deborah Cochran and her husband Larry Cochran, and Taylor Burns and his wife Lou Anne Burns; grandchildren and great-grandchildren Eric and Snow Burns and their children Calvin and Camille, Whitney and Tom Willard and their children Weston and Charley, Drew Cochran and his fiancé Shayna and his daughter Savannah, and Jared Draney.