Lois May Burnham was born to Albert and Elizabeth (Tennison) Barnhart in Maries County, MO on July 27, 1925. She entered Heaven’s gates on the morning of November 25, 2011. May married Carl Burnham on December 21, 1946. To that union was born four children; Carlene, Glenda, Bobby and Randy.
She was preceded in death by her parents, by her husband Carl in September 1969 and by her son Randy in 1988. She was also preceded in death by three brothers Harold, Ellis, and Earl Barnhart, three sisters, Myrene Edwards, her twin sister Fay Hollis and Goldie Radcliff.
Her survivors include her two daughters and their husbands, Carlene and Russell Withers of Springfield, MO and Glenda and Larry Irvin of Oklahoma City, OK, a son Bobby Burnham of Bismark, MO and her daughter-in-law Tammy Burnham of Marshfield, MO., her very special friend Robert Bowers of Springfield, MO, 6 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, her sister Betty and her husband Wayne Barnhart of Springfield, MO, 2 sisters-in-law Mildred Barnhart of St. Elizabeth, MO and Dorothy Barnhart Woods of Springfield, MO and a host of nieces, nephews and friends who will all mourn her passing.
May Burnham was baptized on August 4, 1974. She became a member of High Street Baptist Church in 1984 after moving to Springfield.
She retired in 1985 from Marshfield Schools where she taught 4th grade for many years. She was a member and volunteer for the Ozarks Genealogy Society Library. She was a member of the Maries County Historical Society at Vienna, MO, and the Seeking and Searching Historical Society of Miller County, MO, She was a member of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association of Jefferson City, MO and a member of the Retired Teachers Association of Webster County, MO.
May loved genealogy and talking about her childhood so much so that she diligently wrote a book entitled Little Big Farm after her retirement. It is left as a legacy, of the early years of her childhood to her family, her community and historically to the culture of the early 20th century.
Visitation will be held Monday November 28, 2011 from 9:00 – 10:00 AM in the Greenlawn North Funeral Home. Funeral services will start at 10:00 AM. Burial will follow the service at Stoke Cemetery near Meta, MO.