1933
Burdette
2013
Burdette G. Smith
December 25, 1933 — November 22, 2013
Burdette Gene Smith, 79, of St. Paul died Friday, November 22, 2013 at the VA Medical Center in Grand Island at the age of 79 years due to complications of leukemia.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday at Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul. The Reverends Pat Moore and Don Lovell will officiate. Interment will be held in Mount Hope Cemetery in Scotia with military honors by the Rueben Beck American Legion Post #150 of Scotia.
Visitation will be held on Friday, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul.
Memorials are suggested to the family's choice.
Burdette was born December 25, 1933 near Scotia to Raymond G. and Mildred A. (Hermsmeyer) Smith,
Burdette was the oldest of 5 children. He attended rural school through the 8th grade, then Scotia High School where he graduated in 1952.
He was a member of the Fish Creek EUB church. He received Christ as his Savior as a teenager, at a Youth for Christ Rally.
After graduation, he served 4 years in the U. S. Air Force, including 2 years in Japan. He later graduated from Milford Technical School and worked in Omaha.
He was united in marriage to Anna Mary Torbensen on December 19, 1964 in Omaha at the Omaha Gospel Tabernacle. The couple moved to Scotia in 1974 where he returned to farming. He worked at Monfort Packing Co. in Grand Island for 8 years.
They moved to St. Paul in 1994 where Burdette worked for Werner Construction and later for Harland Christensen feedlot and farm near St. Paul.
After his retirement, he continued to work at various jobs, including Aurora Co-op in Dannebrog.
He was a member of Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul where he served in various capacities, include AWANA. He was also a lifetime member of the American Legion.
Burdette enjoyed making wood craft items with a scroll saw and also baking cinnamon rolls to share with friends.
He enjoyed traveling, including a trip with his sister to visit friends in Japan, later with his brother Harold and sister-in-law Diane to visit missionaries in rural Bahamas. Anna Mary joined him on a trip to Brazil to visit a former exchange student, to Denmark to visit her relatives, Spain to visit his brother Harold and Diane at a mission assignment and to visit friends in the Washington D.C. area.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Mary of St. Paul; son and daughter-in-law, Donald and Dianne Smith of Grand Island, their children, Elizabeth and Micah; a daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Bob Popp of Somerset, WI, their children, Erik, Jacob, Nikolas, Isaac, Christine and Josiah; three brothers and two sisters-in-law, Carl Smith of Vilonia, AR, Harold and Diane Smith of Lincoln and Gilbert and Dawn Smith of Central City; a sister, Carol Vinson of Lincoln; a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Norris and Hazel Torbensen; and nieces and nephews.
Burdette was preceded in death by his parents; a brother-in-law, Merl Vinson and a sister-in-law, Sandra Smith.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday at Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul. The Reverends Pat Moore and Don Lovell will officiate. Interment will be held in Mount Hope Cemetery in Scotia with military honors by the Rueben Beck American Legion Post #150 of Scotia.
Visitation will be held on Friday, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul.
Memorials are suggested to the family's choice.
Burdette was born December 25, 1933 near Scotia to Raymond G. and Mildred A. (Hermsmeyer) Smith,
Burdette was the oldest of 5 children. He attended rural school through the 8th grade, then Scotia High School where he graduated in 1952.
He was a member of the Fish Creek EUB church. He received Christ as his Savior as a teenager, at a Youth for Christ Rally.
After graduation, he served 4 years in the U. S. Air Force, including 2 years in Japan. He later graduated from Milford Technical School and worked in Omaha.
He was united in marriage to Anna Mary Torbensen on December 19, 1964 in Omaha at the Omaha Gospel Tabernacle. The couple moved to Scotia in 1974 where he returned to farming. He worked at Monfort Packing Co. in Grand Island for 8 years.
They moved to St. Paul in 1994 where Burdette worked for Werner Construction and later for Harland Christensen feedlot and farm near St. Paul.
After his retirement, he continued to work at various jobs, including Aurora Co-op in Dannebrog.
He was a member of Grace Baptist Church in St. Paul where he served in various capacities, include AWANA. He was also a lifetime member of the American Legion.
Burdette enjoyed making wood craft items with a scroll saw and also baking cinnamon rolls to share with friends.
He enjoyed traveling, including a trip with his sister to visit friends in Japan, later with his brother Harold and sister-in-law Diane to visit missionaries in rural Bahamas. Anna Mary joined him on a trip to Brazil to visit a former exchange student, to Denmark to visit her relatives, Spain to visit his brother Harold and Diane at a mission assignment and to visit friends in the Washington D.C. area.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Mary of St. Paul; son and daughter-in-law, Donald and Dianne Smith of Grand Island, their children, Elizabeth and Micah; a daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Bob Popp of Somerset, WI, their children, Erik, Jacob, Nikolas, Isaac, Christine and Josiah; three brothers and two sisters-in-law, Carl Smith of Vilonia, AR, Harold and Diane Smith of Lincoln and Gilbert and Dawn Smith of Central City; a sister, Carol Vinson of Lincoln; a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Norris and Hazel Torbensen; and nieces and nephews.
Burdette was preceded in death by his parents; a brother-in-law, Merl Vinson and a sister-in-law, Sandra Smith.
A TRIBUTE AND THANK YOU TO OUR AGING VETERANS DEDICATED TO VETERANS OF WWII & THE VETERANS OF THE KOREAN WAR WHO HELPED TO PRESERVE THAT VICTORY FINALLY, A LONG OVERDUE THANK-YOU TO VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM WAR
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