On June 29th, ultimo in the cemetery at De Funiak Springs Florida, was laid to rest one of the sweetest spirits that has ever lived to bless our world. Two nights before this Sister Ada J. Burdick, wife of Judge W. H. Burdick, fell asleep in Jesus, her Savior.
Sister Burdick was born in the state of Vermont in 1845, removed to DeKalb, Ill., in early childhood, thence to Iowa in the early fifties [1850s] and to Dakota in later life. She has lived here seventeen years.
She was married to Judge W. H. Burdick in June 1865. She joined the Baptist church in her early life and has never ceased her devotion thereto. Her maiden name was Ada J. Converse, and her family was one of the old New England families that have contributed so much to make America great. She was one of the best beloved ladies I have ever known. It was impossible to be thrown with her and now know the inate feelings of gentleness, kindness and goodness which dominated her life and made it a benediction to the community.
To her husband, children and neighbors her life was a holy balm; and nought but goodness and self-abegnation marked her career.
To her the birds sang in no strange language, but in their songs she could catch glimpses of the divine and know that they were His. To her the flowers appealed strongly by their perfume, their colors and shades; but the language of their souls were poured out to hers, and among them she spent her happiest hours, and when she was waiting her final summons to God, she said to her husband: “Papa, do you think that God’s beautiful flowers will cast their shadows over me?”
As we bore her to the Baptist church I was told with tones frought with tears of a bereaved widow who cared only to be alone, but often she would go to Mrs. Burdick and stay for hours and you would find them out among the flowers telling each other the thingsthe flowers would say to them, and mother would always come home so much happier than when she went.”
Her gentle, patient spirit shone out of her frail body to uplift all who came in contact with her. She came to De Funiak Springs when the Baptist church was to feeble to own a church building, and worshipped in the court house, but while she was gentle and kind, she was indefatigueable and aggressive in bettering the condition of her loved church. She came from another part of this great nation, but finding her brethren and sisters here engaged in a great struggle to build a church that they might have a place to worship God in, she became one of them in deed, thought and action, and for many years she stood with pastors, sisters and brothers, in struggling to build the present noble structure of De Funiak Baptist church. There were none who made nobler sacrifices to this end than she, even to denying herself things necessary to her temporal welfare. And before crossing the river she had the pleasure of worshiping God in His house free of debt. But many a year will pass before her part in this long protracted struggle will be effaced from the memory of her sisters who stood so nobly by her side.
Sadness and tears cloud our faces and dim our eyes because we know her loss and because we know that the ceaseless revolutions of the seasons and the flight of time will never bring another to take her consecrated place. But my dear sisters in the church, in your great gloom and grief, do not forget that the memory of her life like the sweet incense from the altars in the days gone will linger on with you in all the coming years, and that one of the superb stained glass windows in our beautiful church that she and you worked so hard to complete and pay for, will bear her name even through the ages.
As her pastor it was great pleasure to visit her often in her last long lingering illness and to hear her express those holy and beautiful sentiments of peace and good will to every one and every thing. I remember going the day after the National Memorial services were held at the cemetery by Capt. Lason and I told her how we all took part, of how all the christian ministers stood with Capt Lason and the singers sung, and everything passed off so sweetly and smoothly, and how Capt Lason had the graves of the union and confederate soldiers decorated alike, and how over them all the sweet flowers and old glory, the emblem of our nation’s greatness and power waved, and when I had finished she said: “I thank God to see their great day when my brethren of the north and south are united again, and every body loves every body. I am so glad, I am so glad.” Then being weak and sick she said no more, but fixed her eyes into far space as though she had seen the glory of the Lord, while her husband from Kacota, and I from Alabama had our eyes bathed in holy happy tears.
If the world was full of just such people as sister Burdick, Christ would come to reign over them for we would need no law but that of love, and Christ is love.
The devoted husband with his thought and love will miss her more than all; and her impress upon him will never cease.
This quotation so aptly describes her life, that I must insert it for our contemplation:
“It will be but a little while till those who knew us, and those who never heard of us will pass along through the green mounds in the cemetery and read the epitaphs on our tombstones and those who knew us will summarize our entire life into a few sentences of truth, born of the knowledge of how we lived and what we did to help make life brighter for others. They will dwell rather upon the roses that we strewed along the pathway than what we put away in our safety boxes for heirs to squabble over. For the money we left they will speak no eulogy upon us, but for the good we did and the perfume of charitableness and gentleness we left behind, they will weave the only wreath that can give glory to the dead and joy to the living.”
May we emulate her virtues, exemplify her gentleness and kindness and extoll her God and Savior with the power of her faith and love.
Her pastor and friend,
Sidney J. Catts
July 1, 1911
[Contributed by Michael Strickland]