James William Burgess

JAMES W. “Jim” BURGESS passed away July 7th, 2014 at the age of 81. A rosary will be held at 7:00 PM Thursday evening July 10th at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 1900 W. Grand Ave., in Haysville, KS. A Funeral mass will follow on Friday morning at 10:00 AM – also at St. Cecilia. James was born April 6th, 1933. His parents; Bazyl Hensel Burgess and Alta Mae “Peggy” Burgess (McElvain), brought him and his sister up in North Platte Nebraska. Jim enjoyed an all American childhood and graduated from North Platte High School in 1951. He then joined the marines and served in the Korean conflict until 1953. Jim attended college a couple of times to study philosophy and medicine, he later also wrote a book about his war experiences in Korea. With his electronics training from the armed services, Jim moved to Wichita Kansas in 1956 and took a position at the Boeing Company. There, Jim met and married Kay Louise Harlan and they moved to Haysville in 1959 where they brought up their children. Jim was a noted square dance caller in the 60’s & 70’s. He coached baseball, was a voracious reader, gardened, built and flew model airplanes. He took pleasure in fishing, served in choirs, played the piano, guitar, tuba, sousaphone, banjo and for a while sang and played in a band around the state. In the last few decades Jim has enjoyed planting and caring for trees in and around the Haysville area. He and Kay converted to Catholicism in 1957 and his faith became an essential part of his life. He was especially proud of his involvement in the 1991 Summer of Mercy in Wichita. Jim is preceded in death by his parents, wife Kay, infant son Baby James, sister Glenda “Pearl” Smith, and his grandson Seth James. He is survived by his sister-in-law; Trudy (Ron) Julius-Wichita, children: Mark (Leisha) Burgess-Jacksonville FL, Zoe Burgess (Marc Westerman,) Dorsey (Debra) Burgess, Lorna Burgess-Wichita, Bazyl Burgess-McPherson, Paige (Steve) Crum, Rev. Yancey Burgess-Haysville and Abigail (Kevin) Robinson-Silver City, NM, fifteen grandchildren: Zach, Joshua, Dustin, Keila, Aubrey, Noah, Adrian, Jeremiah, Joseph, Alba, Tracy, Olyvia, Dawsen, Daine and Oskar. Seven great grandchildren also survive James. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Cecilia Church.