Jeaneen Hale Burgess

Hyde Park – Jeaneen Hale Burgess, 71, passed away peacefully at home early in the morning of January 6, 2010. She was born April 5, 1938 in Hyde Park, Utah to Ferrin Alma Hale and LuRu Stapley. Her mother, LuRu, passed away in 1948 when Jeaneen was ten years old. In 1953 her father married Elaine Seamons Loveland. Jeaneen has three brothers and two step sisters. She attended Wilson Elementary and Logan Junior High in Logan, Utah. She also attended and graduated in 1956 from South Cache High and the LDS Seminary in Hyrum, Utah. She attended Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho on a music scholarship for one year. While at Ricks she worked part time in the school cafeteria. She also sang and accompanied the school choir. Jeaneen was a member of the Ricks College Madrigal singers and the dance club.

She met her husband on a cool rainy night in 1957 while working at the family-owned Arctic Circle Drive-In in Logan, Utah. They talked for a while and he asked if he could take her home. In November of that year, he invited her to his father’s eighty-ninth birthday party. After dinner he showed her the china he sent home while in the Army, and she said she wanted it. He told her the only way she could have it was to marry him, and she said she wanted it that much. They laughed. She married Donald James Burgess, November 6, 1958 in the Logan LDS Temple.

Jeaneen was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served in many callings, and she especially loved serving through music. She was a pianist, accompanying many individuals and groups as they sang. She played despite her hands being crippled by rheumatoid arthritis. When asked how she could still play, she commented that she had learned some tricks. When she wasn’t playing the piano for a group, she was singing as part of a group. Jeaneen and Don loved to take their sons on family camping trips, and they shared this tradition with close friends. She will also be remembered for her Texas sheet cakes, peanut clusters, banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and a cupboard full of Hostess treats for the grandchildren.

Jeaneen is survived by her husband Donald of 51 years. They have three sons and one daughter-in-law: Alma and Cheryl of Smithfield, Robert (deceased 1995), and Nathan of Hyde Park. Her husband, children, and grandchildren were her world. While many friends and extended family members gave her honor for the way she tirelessly cared for Robert, caring for him was not extra work to her. She cherished every day she had with him. She is survived by six grand children, three step grandchildren, and one great grandchild. She is the sister of Coy and Janice Hale of Provo, Utah; Quinn Hale of Mesa, Arizona; David and JuDean Hale of South Ogden, Utah; JoAnn McCoy of Bountiful, Utah; and Marilyn and Arlen Whittington of Sun City West, Arizona.

The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of Community Nursing Services for their help and support the last few months.

A viewing will be held Sunday, January 10, 2010 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Allen Mortuary of North Lgoan,, 420 East 1800 North. Funeral services will be held Monday January 11, 2010 at 11 am in the Hyde Park LDS Stake Center, 535 E. 200 S. in Hyde Park, Utah. A viewing will precede the funeral from 9:30 to 10:30 am. Interment will be in the Hyde Park Cemetery.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.allenmortuaries.net