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RETURN TO HOME PAGE OR TO NELLIE/WM OR TO NEW STUFF GERALD GEORGE Nellie/Wm>Gerald George Gerald George Burdett Born
October 2, 1906. Gerald was hit by a vehicle while walking by
the side of the road at night. Had lived in California, married
Bertha, who, after being widowed, married Lee Collins and moved
to Willow Springs, Missouri, to raise her two sons. Following
a 50-year separation from the Burdett Family addresses are known
for his descendants. California Deaths, 1940-97 http://search.ancestry.com/ BURDETT GERALD JAMES MALE 10/03/1906 - 11/06/1943 OHIO SANTA CLARA 552014035 BRYANT BURDETT to set the record straight I pulled this off the above web site. The name should be GERALD GEORGE BURDETT NOT GERALD JAMES BURDETT --- Gerald
Jerry Burdett at Marblehead Peninsula |
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My dad (Gerald George Burdett, son of Nellie & William) told me when I was a little kid that most of the men in the Burdett family died around age forty. That worried me for years. Then he got killed at thirty-seven. I don't know who the others were. It was something he said that stuck with me, but between ages seven and nearly seventy I may have lost some of the information. Jerry Burdett 9-18-02
Jerry James Burdett
What can I say about this guy? Well a lot of years ago I could have said a lot of things that I probably can’t repeat now. Nor would I want too. You taught me a lot of things some good and some not so good. But I guess that is part of growing up. Things weren’t always easy and I know that my brother and sister and I didn’t make things any easier for you. We were always getting into one thing or another, But We all grew up and in your words " we have all of our fingers and toes and we are all doing alright". Things that come to mind, and I have to smile sometimes when I hear my children or grandchildren saying " you lie, your feet stink, and you bark at the moon" , I can’t help but think of you and when we were growing up. You were a teacher, disciplinarian, enforcer and above all else my FATHER. I may not of said it much back then, or maybe I did I can’t remember. But now that I’m grown and have raised my own children I can appreciate all of the things that you did for me. You taught me to play guitar and were so proud of me when we would play music with your friends. You taught me how to work on cars, and to not be afraid of hard work, you taught me how to be a good person and a good man. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate you and that I love you. And Now I’m glad that you are my "FRIEND" as well as Dad… Happy Father’s Day. Your Son, Gerald
JERRY JAMES BURDETT Jerry was born in San Mateo, California, June 28, 1933; the city where his father, Gerald George Burdett (son of Nellie & William) was killed at age 37. He and his younger brother, Roy Ralph, were the only children of Gerald George. Roy was killed in Crescent City, California, in 1965 when he was cleaning up flood debris while working for a construction company. Jerry is unsure why the accident happened, but he said he believes the workers may have been using diesel to burn the piles, and something in the debris pile blew up. Roy lived nine more days before dying. Gerald G. Burdett was killed while walking alongside the road when a car left the road and hit him. Jerry’s and Roy’s mother, Bertha, remarried to Lee Collins around a year after Gerald George’s death. Bertha and Lee moved with the boys to Willow Springs, Missouri, where they grew up. Jerry was around ten years old at the time of the move. His mother, Bertha, died in 1992. Jerry relates that his father, Gerald George, boarded a merchant marine ship in Florida and worked on the ship until it docked in California. He and a shipmate then went to work running whiskey for Bertha’s father, a bootlegger. He and Bertha met because of the bootlegger job. He also worked as a steeplejack and a roofer. During World War 11 he worked in the shipyard as a welder. Jerry is the father of four children (2 girls and 2 boys) who are all grown; the grandfather of 12 and a great grandfather. His older son, Gerald James, lives in the state of Virginia and is now communicating with the Burdett family by computer and telephone. Jerry is divorced and retired from the Port of Memphis where he worked as a port manager. He currently lives in Shirley, Arkansas, around 80 miles northwest of Little Rock. The Arkansas countryside is hilly and is timber and farm country. During his spare time he does welding and mechanic work. Although the Collins considered the Burdett boys part of the family, and Jerry attended Collins family reunions many times, he still realized that he probably had kin "out there somewhere", that he was isolated in a way. He "thought many times" of trying to find his Burdett relatives but "never got around to it." Austin’s daughter Barb, Edna’s son Philip and Alta’s Virginia made attempts to locate Jerry and his family a few times over the years. Barb, aided by the internet and databases, finally succeeded in June, 2001. …interview with Virginia Isabelle, June 2001
Roy Ralph Burdett. Roy was Jerry’s brother. Born Aug. 2, 1934 In SanMateo, Calif. In 1965 he was working in California when they had those awful mudslides. They were trying to clean the mess up and there was a huge explosion of some sort. Roy was burned terribly bad. He lived 9 days then died. It was in the Crescent City-Klamath area. He is buried out there. I don't know whether he was married or not or whether he had any children. Jerry might be able to fill that gap. Later again, Barb |
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Betty, Jerry (holding Gerald)
Letter to Barbara Burdett Slaughterbeck Hi! I'm one of the descendants of Gerald George Burdett, (my Grandfather) In fact I am the eldest son of Jerry Burdett, who I understand you have spoken with. I am now living in King George Va. I talked with my Dad a little while ago and he told me of this website. I just had to check it out. I was certainly surprised to see that I have other relatives out there. The only ones that I am in contact with are my Dad and Mom . My other siblings are too caught up in their own little problems, that they don't contact me anymore. My dad lives in Arkansas and Grandma (Bertha) lived with her daughter in Pleasant Hope, Mo, near Springfield until she died. Dad was really excited when he told me about the website. He is getting older and really enjoys it when he finds out more about our family-as I do. Anyway, I wanted to introduce myself, and if there is any information that I can provide let me know. So long for now, I guess that would make you a second cousin wouldn't it? Gerald JAMES Burdett June 11, 2001 Let me know how your interview with Jerry goes. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I think I already told you about the search. Was rather simple really after I got into the right files. I started with California vital statistics which gave me Uncle Gerald Death info. then I went into the California birth records. Found a bunch of Jerrys and Roys. Matched up the two with the same Mothers maiden name. Which was Gentile, by the way. From there I went to the U.S names, addresses and telephone records and found those 5 Jerry Burdetts My luck was in picking the right one to call right off the bat. I just happened to guess right. Although I was prepared to call the others too. I forgot to tell you. I prayed some too. There is no doubt there is a very happy place in my heart about finding those two, but I need no accolades. Just finding them and getting to talk to them is thanks enough. I'm hoping now that we can get them to the reunion so we can meet them in person. The biggest thrill I got out of the whole thing was the Joy and Excitement I heard from Jerry when I told him who I was and who I represented. His exuberance was just out of this world. Barb
Philip DuBose & Jerry Burdett 1948 Hi Virginia, I think it is really great what you are doing. I know that the family will enjoy it. I've visited the website a number of times and reading about a family that I don't know is really fun. The stories that I've read about my great grandmother are great and so funny. It certainly is a shame that we have been so scattered. I am hoping that this will be a reunion to remember in November. I spoke with Dad, and I am going to try to make it to this reunion. I'd like to meet up with the long lost relatives. I guess, however, that we were the lost relatives. I am certainly happy that we have rejoined the clan. I will have to put on my creative hat and think of something that I can write as a tribute to my dad. I'll think about it and see what I can put together in short order. This probably won't be my best work though. I'll send something in probably tomorrow. I hope this won't be too late. Thanks for all of your work, the web pages look fantastic. Gerald
Jerry Burdett at the Bryant/Burdett Reunion in Tampa 2001 |
