BURLINGTON, Iowa — Jean Deloris Burgus, 89, of Burlington, died Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at Great River Hospice House in West Burlington.

The Rev. Jonathan Noble will officiate. Interment will be in Kossuth Cemetery, rural Mediapolis.

A memorial has been established for First Congregational Church.

Born March 13, 1920, in Letts, she was the daughter of Albert and Lydia Rebecca Hingst Rowe. 

On March 20, 1952 she married Harold S. Burgus in Grandview. He preceded her in death on Oct. 24, 2001.

Mrs. Burgus was valedictorian of her 1937 Letts High School graduating class. She graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in 1941. 

In September 1942 , she entered the Army Nurse Corps. She served as a first lieutenant at the 124th Station Hospital in Camp Carson, Colo. She went overseas and worked in Army Hospitals in the Pacific Theatre at Brisbane, Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines, earning two Battle Stars.

She was discharged from active duty on May 5, 1946, at Fitzsimons Hospital in Denver and served in the Reserves until November 1953.  She was very proud of her service in the Army and frequently visited area cemeteries on Memorial Day to place flags on veterans’ graves.

Following World War II,  she worked at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Oklahoma City, University of Oklahoma and then Mercy Hospital, working with children during the polio epidemic.

  She was respected by nurses and doctors alike and frequently did special duty for very ill patients.

She also was a registered nurse, serving the Burlington School District for 14 years.  She retired in 2004 after               63 years of nursing.

She was an active member of First Congregational Church of Burlington where she served on several boards and committees, babysat and attended national conferences. She was also a member of P.T.A., Brownies, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and American Red Cross. 

She loved nature, animals, growing up on the family farm, children, mushrooming, gardening and canning.  She was famous for her pies, was an avid conservationist. She loved her country and her flag and enjoyed Army reunions.

Survivors include one son, Randall (Wendy) Burgus of Burlington; two daughters, Gail (Steve) Burnett of Anaheim, Calif., and Carolyn (Darryl) Nelson of Mount Pleasant; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Wesley Rowe of Muscatine and Lawrence “Babe” Rowe of Grandview and nieces and nephews.

Her husband, parents, three sisters and two brothers preceded her in death.