Gratitude from Guitararino by Tony Savarino and The Savtones

Nov. 6, 1915 — Sept. 20, 2013

Mary Celestia (Koetz) Burdick, of Twain Harte and Mesa, Ariz., died Sept. 20 at her summer home in Twain Harte. She was 97.

Mrs. Burdick was born in Faith, S.D., the first of eight children born to Eugene H. Koetz and Anna M. (Goetzinger) Koetz.

She received numerous awards for her penmanship in grade school and enjoyed writing letters.

She graduated from R.A. Long High School, in Longview, Wash., where she lettered in field hockey.

She married Albert B. Burdick on July 23, 1935.

She and her husband traveled extensively, including Canada, Australia, Europe and Palestine. They also traveled through every state in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

She was a skilled designer and seamstress and crafted clothing and afghans for her family.

Mrs. Burdick was a Cub Scouts den mother, president of the Catholic Daughters of America, member of the Jesuit Mothers Association and the All Saints Catholic Church women’s guild in Twain Harte, and a lifetime member of the Parent Teacher Association.

She was an amateur genealogist. She researched her family history and wrote an unpublished biography of her family, “I Remember Mama Anna and Papa Eugene” in 1994.

Mrs. Burdick was preceded in death by her husband of 72 years, Albert Burdick; two infant brothers; sisters, Frances Mae Bourland, Eugenia A. Schonert, and Erma C. Fuller.

She is survived by her children and their spouses, Eugene A. and Mary M. Burdick, of Mesa, Bernard J. and Ellen M. Burdick, of Reading, Mass.; grandchildren, Christopher E. Burdick, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., Adam P. Burdick, of San Diego, Alexander A. Burdick, of Phoenix, Ariz., Jason A. Burdick, of Boston, Mass.; Katherine L. Burdick, of Brookline, Mass., and Carl A. Burdick, of Cincinnati, Ohio; one great-grandchild; siblings, Helen G. Smith, of Longview, and Kathryn L. Proshold, of Longview.

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