Dr. Marie Burkhead
Oct. 23,1934Feb. 8, 2024
Dr. Marie Burkhead went to be with the Lord after passing very peacefully early in the morning on Feb. 8, 2024. She was 89 years old.
Born Alice Marie Brown on Oct. 23, 1934, in a share-croppers shack beside a cotton field outside of Kennett, MO, she had humble beginnings. She tagged along behind her mother in the fields picking cotton from the age of 3 or 4, until she was able to begin picking cotton herself, around age 5.
She believed education was her ticket out of the cotton field, and she worked hard in school and graduated valedictorian in both high school and college. Her college career as a student spanned 18 years, culminating with a doctorate in Business in 1975.
She worked as a secretary at the F.B.I in Washington, D.C., before attending Union University as an undergraduate in Jackson, TN, where she met her husband, Robert Burkhead. They were married in 1960.
She got her master’s degree in 1961 from UT Austin, where she had a 4.0 gpa. She began her teaching career in 1962 and taught at several universities up until 1992. Her longest teaching stint was at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA for almost 18 years. It was there in Natchitoches that she raised her family and made many friends and memories.
Marie moved to Abilene, TX in 1993, where she made many more friends and became a strong supporter of the Unity Church. In Abilene, she began her second career as a tax preparer for H&R Block at age 59.
This year would have marked her 30th year doing taxes. She loved getting to know people by doing their taxes and looked forward to it every year.
Marie was a true, shining light. She loved people and she loved to laugh. She made friends from all walks of life. She loved doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, playing Scrabble (she almost always won), and playing word games on her computer. She was an avid reader her entire life.
She is survived by her son Gregory Lane Burkhead, daughterin- law Stephanie, and her granddaughter Daisy Lane Burkhead, of The Colony, TX, and her brother David Keith Grice of Kennett, MO. She is preceded in death by her parents Charley Rachael Brown, and Hester Elaine Scott, her husband Robert Lane Burkhead (divorced), her daughter Virginia “Jenny” Elaine Burkhead, her brothers Alvin Wayne Brown, Rayford Lee Grice, and her sister Sharon Jueletta Grice James.
She was loved dearly by her family and many friends and will be greatly missed.