Friday, March 15, 2013

Mary Ann Evans Burlington

Eulogy
 
We are here today to remember Mary Ann Evans Burlington. I, Patsy, am her oldest daughter but not far behind me are Mary Lee, Sheila  and Maureen . We would all like to thank you for your presence today as we celebrate our mother’s life.

Mary Ann Evans grew up in Montvale, NJ with loving parents , Mary and Bernard, a sister Grace and a brother Bernard affectionately called Buster.  She was extremely bright, an excellent student and in high school was the only girl in the Trigonometry class.  She was on the tennis and golf team and was always interested in writing. Her father, an accountant was a graduate of Pace University and was on the board when my mother began her studies there. She majored in Journalism and landed her first job in NYC at the ITT. At age 21, she married our Dad, William Burlington, who also lived in Montvale.  She knew the Burlington family as our father’s sister, Alice was my mother’s childhood friend. Her career was short lived as she soon had four daughters   and stayed at home to raise her family in Ridgewood and later in Glen Rock.

Our mother was a stately, beautiful woman and had an opportunity to do some modeling. One day, she saw an ad for a Miss Ridgewood Contest and she decided to enter. She neglected to say that she was actually Mrs and had 4 toddlers at home. She reminisced to me one day that she never thought she would win and when she did she had to give up her title! She continued modeling at church luncheons and even modeled with my two daughters at their school‘s fashion show. But her passion was volunteering and she was involved in many community programs including teaching swimming at the Y to children with disabilities, working with the Girl Scouts, assisting the nurses at the Valley Home Clinic in Glen Rock and chairing the Deanery Committee at St Catharine’s .  As a volunteer, she is most remembered  for her dedication to Valley Hospital for over 40 years first as a Gray Lady delivering flowers and later working in the emergency room.

 We remember our mother’s other “ passions”… politics, line dancing, country music, Judge Judy, summer nights in Belmar with Bobby Byrne  and  reading the Enquirer because inquiring minds need to know. Her sense of humor always made our day and her upbeat personality made being around her such fun.  She never missed

American Idol or Seinfeld or the Academy Awards.  I still remember the thrill of being invited to “stay up” and watch with my grandmother and mother and to this day, I have enjoyed the show every year with my mother.

And let’s not forget  Mother the shopper…she would tell us how she would send us off to school and head to Bamberger’s probably looking for a new coat! And even when she couldn’t get to the mall, she was catalog shopping and enjoying hunting for that perfect new outfit. We four daughters often benefited from these shopping sprees as she would insist that we  buy a “prize”. But even with all of these interests, writing was at the top of the list.
 
She continued her love of writing throughout the years in her many journals and even self-published her memoir Life in the Past Lane. Her sons-in-laws,( Brian Deceased), Phil and Ray and her  grandchildren Kelly, Kara, Julie, Jessica, Scott, Laura, Megan, Michael , Kevin and Jill and great –grandchildren , Connor and Hope, Ella, Owen and Teddy, Reilly, Matthew and Allyson, Jack and Lily, Mary and William, Molly and Matthew can attest to her loving notes sent with every birthday card with her signature  yellow smile face. With ten grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren  ( and one on the way)  to remember, we marveled at her organization. They all had a special place in her heart..she attended every college graduation and every wedding  and was interested in all of them. Her generosity knew no bounds as she was always treating some family member to an unexpected gift ..and when you said it was too much, she would say, “Just say thank you”. And now it is our turn to just say thank you, Mother for  your generosity, for your love , for the happy beach memories in Spring Lake and the care free days at the Lake with the  Evans’ and the Cassidys'. You always were our Christmas angel and we will never forget all the special themes that you created to make Christmas magical for your family. You loved  hosting parties and even at the end you were planning a 4th of July family reunion at the beach. We will carry your independent spirit, your faith ,your love of family and the memories you gave to all of us in our hearts forever.

 
Patricia Burlington Madden  
March 15, 2013

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