Brenda Jean Burch, 74, of Loogootee, Indiana, passed away at 1:26 a.m. Friday, September 1st, 2023 at Sycamore Care Strategies in Loogootee.
She was born May 18, 1949 in Washington, Indiana to the late John Bernard Kelley and Margaret (Ellis) Wagoner.
Brenda married the late Wayne F. Burch on August 17, 1973. She enjoyed cooking, cleaning, beautiful flowers, hummingbirds, and spending a lot of time with her family and grandchildren. She will be forever remembered as the matriarch of the family, and a compassionate caretaker to all. She formerly owned Brenda’s Classic Tan and Tone in Loogootee. She decorated many weddings and provided tuxedo fittings and rentals. Brenda retired from Tristar at NSWC Crane after 17 years of employment and previously worked at Kimball Electronics in Jasper for 25 years. She was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John Bernard Kelley and Margaret (Ellis) Wagoner; her husband, Wayne F. Burch; her brother, Gary Lee Kelley.
Brenda is survived by her children, Bernard Joseph Burch of Paris, France, Melissa (Rodney) Hedrick of Loogootee, Fanessa (Allan) Harmon of Loogootee, Alissa (Eric Graber) Burch of Washington, Kelly (Dustin) Scharr of Montgomery, Lorissa (Billy) Walker of Loogootee, and Waynessa (Josh) Franklin of Loogootee; her grandchildren, Pryce (Katherine Gilbert) Hedrick, Mya, Leonna, and Alana Hedrick, Lucas Burch, Haylo Harmon, Jocelyn and Alyn Strange, Aria Graber, Riley Jones, Stella Schnarr, Hannah Walker, Lilli Walker, Rilyn Medina, Kyelyn Walker, Leela, Lyrika, Layne, and Ledger Franklin; one-great-grandchild, Kai Hedrick; her siblings, Danny Kelley of Loogootee, Tony (Ginger) Kelley of Martinsville, Donna (Terry) Norris of Loogootee, Kevin Kelley of Florida, Kent Kelley of Washington, Jule (the late William) Beltz of Loogootee, Cheryl (Bob) Carrico of Loogootee, and several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Very Rev. J. Kenneth Walker at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 8, 2023, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Loogootee, Indiana. Burial will follow in St. Martin Catholic Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Friday, September 8, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Venmo, @Waynessa-Franklin or https://account.venmo.com/u/Waynessa-Franklin, for her grandchildren’s college education fund.
Brenda left her children with words of wisdom.
Lesson 1. Always be nice to the person on the other end of the line.
Lesson 2. Pay attention to when they answer by name i.e. say “Hi Walt, this Brenda Burch” and give them the reason you are calling. When you address them by their name, they feel a connection to want to help you more. Before hanging up, thank them for helping you.
Lesson 3. ALWAYS remember… KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS!! No matter how hateful they are to you follow lesson 1 & 2 and you will be able to tell maybe sometimes just a slight change in their attitude, at least you know you treated them with R-E-S-P-E-C-T always!
Always remember – I’m proud of each one of you and who you have become, even though it seems I’m hard A..a lot. If anything ever happens to me I know you all will be able to SURVIVE without me 🙂
Love, Mom
Condolences may be made online at www.blakefuneralhomes.com.
Blake Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Brenda Jean Burch.
