Nancy Eva-Jean Burney

NANCY JEAN BURNEY 

Nancy Eva-Jean Burney was born in Winslow, Arizona, on March 5, 1932 to Charles Elihu and Catharine Daisy Stout. She was the youngest of 5 children, all of whom preceded her in death. Two brothers (Tom and “Bud”) and two sisters (Helene and Margery) spoiled her rotten, though she may have had disagreements with Marge, from whom she stole the “baby of the family” title when Nancy came along (when Marge was 5 years old). She was a proud Winslow High School “Bulldog,” where she met her high school sweetheart George Burney, and they married in December, 1950 during their college Christmas break. After Dad took his commission in the fledgling United States Air Force, they spent 67 years raising their 4 daughters and traveling around the world. (Though she adopted many daughters and sons of the heart along the way.) 

Nancy became a dedicated Officer’s Wife, which entailed learning the fine arts of tea etiquette, leading meetings, greeting newcomers to the Base, and visiting other wives when their husbands were on TDY (Temporary Duty) assignments (and their kids were driving them crazy). During the year Dad was in Vietnam (1969-70), she served as a member of the “Wives in Waiting” group, and may have had to make some very hard visits with wives whose husbands didn’t come home that year.  

In 1956, when Dad was transferred to Okinawa, Mom “rode herd” on 3 little girls by herself, though with the loving attention of dad’s parents, with whom they lived until Dad could get housing. Mom learned how to pluck a chicken and dress it for Sunday dinners after Grandpa Burney would “dispatch” one, and she learned the art of canning fruits and vegetables from his garden under Grandma’s guidance (things she didn’t learn growing up). When we moved to Okinawa, Mom was delighted to have an Okinawan girl come in a few days a week to help manage the household, at a very low cost (always important on a 2nd Lieutenant’s salary).  Dad was transferred to the Philippines after a year, and a live-in maid and a visiting yard boy came with the house. That gave her the free time to become an American Red Cross “Gray Lady” (volunteer), a Red Cross swim instructor, and a Girl Scout leader for the first time (she had been a Girl Scout when she grew up). She continued with the Girl Scout program through each of the four daughters, and gave it up when youngest daughter Becky gave it up. 

Nancy served in the Officers’ Wives’ Club, and was president or an officer at many of the Bases. She loved to bowl, and was on the Base Women’s bowling league; her ball and shoes were always in a bag in the hall closet. She golfed, though not as avidly as Dad did. One year (1967-68) she took a Cake Decorating class, and we enjoyed her homework assignments! The only time she took a job outside the home was in 1968-69, as a Bank Teller, to earn money for Barb’s college tuition; these funds supplemented the scholarship Barb earned from the Officers’ Wives’ Club! 

During each of Dad’s assignments, Mom sought out a church to attend if there wasn’t one on the base. In 1959, she joined the Belton, Missouri, congregation of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. When going to churches on Base, she always served in the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) group, was in the choir (after she took voice lessons in 1963) and sang solos for special occasions. Mom knew the words by heart of so many traditional hymns, and it wasn’t unheard of for the girls to break into opera, show tunes, or Gilbert & Sullivan songs. Dad grudgingly came to church with us until their Omaha, Nebraska assignment in 1974, when Pastor Bean “got through” to him with what the Bible was all about. From then on, Mom’s life was more complete!  

In 1978, when George retired from his career in the U.S. Air Force, they moved back to Mesa, Arizona, where they enjoyed hiking, camping, and working with their church. They were members of the Mesa 1st Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, where they led hikes or campouts, and worked at the Church Camp on Mingus Mountain (near Prescott). They gradually began to disagree with some of the corporate policies of that church, and around 1984, a group of like-minded members split from the group and formed the Christian Heritage group, which met in the Mesa YMCA. When Tom and Betty Neel (old high school friends) moved to Mesa after Tom retired (about 1988), they invited mom and dad to try the Tempe Church of Christ. After the sermon ended, Mom and Dad walked down the aisle to join the church, along with Becky and Nikki, Beverly and her two boys Sam and Tommy. They became active members of the Tempe Church, again leading hikes and working at Copper Basin Bible Camp, and special weekend retreats. While Dad would tackle the maintenance projects, Mom would tackle cleaning the cabins between camper-weeks, and cooking & serving meals. Mom found other ways to serve not only the church family, but also the community, in setting up a “Holiday Help” program at Thanksgiving and Christmas. When Dad became an Elder, she convinced the board that further help was needed: a vacant storeroom off the kitchen in the church was turned into “Nancy’s Closet,” which distributed donated clothing and housewares to anyone in need. 

Nancy and George had gone through a Christian Marriage Encounter group in the early 1980’s, and this became a passion of theirs, to become facilitators for other married couples to deepen their relationships with Christ and each other. They also helped with a Marine Corps Chaplain’s group in Yuma, Arizona, helping adult children of alcoholics deal with their emotional trauma and become better Marines.  

In 1995 and 1996, they went with a Christian tour group to Israel, and then to Turkey and Greece, following the footsteps of the early Christians. In 1998, they found out about the “Let’s Start Talking” ministry through Church of Christ, and their first two assignments were in Warsaw, Poland, where mom’s maternal grandmother had grown up. Later missions took them to Buenos Aires and Chile. Nancy kept travel journals for these world-wide adventures, which she truly loved. As a result of the Buenos Aires trips, they received a call from the church asking if they had a room “to rent” for an Argentine Doctoral student at A.S.U. who needed a place until she could get settled. Alejandra Rosa-Rossa became an adopted sister from that time on, and Mom and Dad celebrated with her in 2005 when she became a U.S. citizen! Sid Nabavi, who had been the family auto mechanic, became an adopted son, especially after he and Alejandra met.  

When the grandkids were very little, before they bought the 5th Wheel trailer in 1989, they would take the daughters and grandkids camping at Christopher Creek (by Payson), and cook up the crawdads or fish that they caught in the stream. When Barb moved to Panaca in 1984, and taught them how to make jelly from wild fruits, Mom and Dad would gather these during camping trips to make small batches that were eagerly consumed on “grandkids day,” one day of the week that the kids would spend with grandma and grandpa while their parents worked. Time spent with the grandkids was precious to Mom – and she could send them home at the end of a long day! Easter, family birthdays in July, Thanksgiving and Christmas were always special at Mom’s house, with favorite meals and the traditional “Bunny Cake” at Easter picnic in Pioneer Park in Mesa. For Thanksgiving, there were always a dozen extra faces (or so it seemed), as Mom invited singles and lonely couples to share the meal with us. A few times, the guest list exceeded 25 guests, and a 28-lb. turkey was not uncommon! Mom always made special treats for the Thursday night Bible Study that Dad conducted at their home for around 25 years; and a special dinner at the conclusion of a “book” in the Bible usually included Mexican specialties or “Chalupa” (meat and beans served over tortilla chips).  

After George passed in 2017, Alzheimer's disease began to rob her of all these memories, and her last three years were spent in Clearwater Living in Ahwatukee, whose staff took loving and compassionate care of her as she declined. Nancy passed June 17, 2024, surrounded by her four daughters: Barbara Rohde from Panaca, Nevada; Beverly Montgomery (Ed) in Glendale, Betty Schoen (Jeff) in Chandler, and Becky Rettelle (Rick) in Mesa, Arizona. She is also survived by 5 grandchildren: Sam and Tommy Alderman, Nikki Rettelle, and Micaiah and Gilead Buckholtz, and Bryan and Michael Schoen; and 4 great grandchildren: Cal and Simon George Alderman, Sora and Timmy McLaughlin, Gabrielle, Anthony, Wyatt and Landon Schoen. Each of us thank each of you for your loving thoughts and memories of Mom, and the ways you touched her life. God be with you ‘til we meet again in heaven, Nancy. 

A memorial service will be scheduled this fall at Tempe Church of Christ.