Fern Burdick

Fern LaVonne Burdick, 90, beloved daughter of God, went home to be with Jesus. She passed away on Wednesday, April 16, with immediate family by her side in Richland, Missouri.

Graveside service will take place at Ash Hollow Cemetery, 10 a.m., Saturday, April 26 followed by a memorial gathering at United Methodist Church on Main Street followed by refreshments.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Holechek-Bondegard Funeral Home where a portion of the funds will be used to support North Carolina’s ongoing hurricane recovery.

Holechek-Bondegard Funeral Home and Cremations in Oshkosh is serving the Burdick family.

Born in Lewellen, Nebraska on July 22, 1934 to Howard and Mabel Beavins, she was the youngest of three children. Fern’s family lived far out of town in a sod house in the sand hills of Nebraska, so Mabel went to stay with her friend, Ruby Fern Burdick, to be closer to a doctor. She was named after Ruby Fern, who was given the honor of choosing her middle name, LaVonne. Since Ruby Fern also went by Fern, it became tricky when Fern L. married Ruby Fern’s youngest son, Albert Wayne, 20 years later on July 25, 1954. Their union lasted just shy of 48 years before Wayne’s passing.

They would bear the loss of two stillborn boys, but be blessed with three daughters, six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. They moved from Nebraska to California to Arizona, before landing in Colorado. They settled in Ft. Collins for about 20 years, where they built a life rich in faith and good friends.

Fern worked a variety of jobs including teacher’s aide, clerical jobs, weighing sugar beets, and working for Teledyne Waterpik where she met celebrity spokesperson Robert Fuller. Her big heart, kindness, and outgoing personality allowed her to excel at her last job as the Cimmaron Square apartment and townhouse manager before finally retiring and moving to Missouri to be near grandkids.

Fern was a strong woman of faith and actively participated in local church activities. In Ft Collins she found kinship at the First Christian Church where her faith would grow before eventually moving to Resurrection Fellowship. Both parents would become active in outside mission and evangelical ministries. Fern would travel to Russia after the fall of the Berlin wall to minister and share Jesus with the Jews, participating in an intercessory prayer rotation throughout the event.

Fern is survived by her three daughters, Terri, Traci Bailey, and Trina (Robert) Engholm, six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wayne, parents Howard and Mabel Beavins, sisters Dorothy (M. Irv) Luce, Doris (Don) Wells, and brother-in-law Harold (June) Burdick.