RAMONA BURNS Obituary – Sept. 8, 1932 – Dec. 12, 2020

Ramona Stackpole Burns, 88, of Henderson passed away Dec. 12, 2020, at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18, at Shackelford Funeral Directors – Crook Avenue with Wayne Scott, Roy Sharp, Ray Eaton and Milton Sewell officiating. Burial will follow in Chester County Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends at Crook Avenue from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17. Memorials may be made to the FHU Associates, Henderson Church of Christ Education Program or West Tennessee Children’s Home.
She was born on Sept. 8, 1932, in a holler in Dale, W.Va., the oldest daughter of the late Dexel Glenn and Mary Elizabeth (Doak) Stackpole. She graduated from Comstock High School in Kalamazoo, Mich., and then made her way to Henderson where she attended Freed Hardeman College (Class of 1953). While there she met James D. Burns, and they married on Aug. 29, 1954. They moved to Henderson in 2002 where they placed membership with the Henderson Church of Christ.
She was a homemaker as well as a devoted minister’s wife, supporting her husband in many congregations located in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Illinois. She taught children’s and ladies’ Bible classes at many churches and Bible camps. As a community volunteer, she worked with local hospitals, PTA and band/choir parent organizations. She served many years as a Girl Scout leader in Illinois and as a Juvenile Probation Officer in Memphis. She was an officer in the Freed Hardeman University Associates for many years. In her spare time she enjoyed sewing, crafts and painting.
She is survived by two sons, Tim (Laurie) Burns of Roscoe, Ill., and Dexel (Angie) Burns of Luray; two daughters, Tammy Byrd of Moline, Ill., and Sarah (Beth) Burns of Henderson; five grandchildren, Tiffanie (Jake) Armstrong, Laura (Jeremy) Douglas, Aubrey Goveia, Melissa (A.M.) Byrd and Kacy (Roger) Skomp; and 10 great-grandchildren, Jaxon Armstrong, Trenten Byrd, Cameron Goveia, Dalton Douglas, Logan Remour, Taylin Armstrong, Sophia Schadel, Lucas Douglas, Joselyn Schadel and Charlotte Douglas.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, James D. Burns; son-in-law, Stephen Byrd; grandson, Anthony Burns; a great-grandson, Dylan Byrd; one brother, Bartlett Stackpole; and three sisters, Helen Damron, Glenda Padgett and Dolly Luella Brock.