Patricia Burnam Funeral
Funeral • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Patricia Cown Burnam “Patty”
Born: February 19, 1933
Passed: April 26, 2026
Celebration of Life Service: Friday, May 8, 2026
Interment: Riverside Cemetery, Friday, May 8, 2026
Husband: Robert “Bob” Burnam - deceased
Children: Michael Allen Maddox - deceased
Dr. Spencer Fleetwood Maddox, III, Amy Maddox Bean (Rusty)
Step-children: Robert Scott Burnam (Elizabeth), Venita Burnam Roberts
Grandchildren: Kristen Bean Long (Josh), Taylor Maddox (Kara), Jessica Bean Williams (Matt), Austin Maddox, Reeves Maddox (Marah), Macy Maddox Davis (Will), Rebecca Bean Minarovich (Patrick), Rachel Bean Harlow (Bobby), Sarah Bean Spikes (Alex), Hunter Bean, Austin Bean, Jodan Burnam, Cody Roberts, Marion Roberts Brantley (Chantry)
Great Grandchildren: Eighteen
Order of Service:
Song - “How Great Thou Art” - Congregation (1st and 3rd)
Welcome and Scripture - Randy Darnell
Song - “In The Garden” - Jessica Williams and Rebecca Minarovich
Reflections on “In the Garden” - Kristen Long
Readings and Memories - Rachel Harlow, Macy Davis
Eulogy - Randy Darnell
Song - “Blessed Assurance” - Congregation
Graveside:
Committal - Randy Darnell
Scripture - Psalm 23 - Camden Sorensen
Prayer - Camden Sorensen
Song - “Amazing Grace” - Congregation
Funeral
Song - “How Great Thou Art” (1st and 3rd)
Welcome to the Celebration of the life of Mrs. Patricia Cown Burnam.
Understanding her heart, our best way to begin today is to sing what she is singing today.
Please stand and join with me in singing, “How Great Thou Art.”
O Lord my God!
When I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power thro’-out the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Will you pray with me?
Our Father, Patty’s Father,
O Lord how comforting it is to sing these words
To know that Ms. Patty has bowed before you in humble adoration
And with seeing eyes - not by faith now, but by sight - she is seeing you and proclaiming, “my God, how great Thou art!”
In this room and at her graveside, dear Father, impress upon our hearts the love you held for Ms. Patty
And the love you hold for each of us.
In Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen.
Thank you all for coming today to show your love and respect for Ms. Patty and for her family.
There are hundreds of things you could be doing, but you sacrificed those things to be here.
The family is so grateful for your love and support.
May the Lord richly bless you for your love and care.
For a pastor planning a funeral, there is no greater gift someone can give than a Bible full of markings
And for family memories filled with scripture.
It’s like finding a treasure chest buried in your back yard - and Ms. Patty left us that treasure.
You’ll hear a number of scriptures that she highlighted and a few notes that she took in the margins of her King James Bible.
I’m an ESV guy, but in her honor, everything we read today will be from the King James Version of the Bible.
So let’s start here, with her favorite scripture:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Song - “In The Garden” - Jessica Williams and Rebecca Minarovich
Reflections on “In the Garden” - Kristin Long
Readings and Memories - Rachel Minarovich and Macy Davis
Eulogy - Randy Darnell
One of the most pernicious lies told in the church is the lie that God will not give us more than we can handle.
That’s a lie straight from the pits of hell and smells like smoke.
It’s a misapplication of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to resist
And that He always gives us a way of escape.
But even a cursory reading of the Bible gives lie to the fact that God will not give us more than we can handle.
All through scripture, person after person is given so many challenges that they have but one recourse
And that recourse is to cry out to the Lord for help.
Ms. Patty learned that right from the start.
Ms. Patty was born on Sunday, February 19, 1933.
I’m not sure if anyone here remembers being alive in 1933
But every one of us has studied those years at some point.
The Great Depression started in 1929 and didn’t end until Patty was 6
And you know even then it didn’t end with the flipping of a switch.
It actually ended with an invasion
Adolf Hitler and his Nazi’s invaded Poland in 1939 and it didn’t end until little Patty was 12.
Patty was born into hardship and hard times.
Those hard times shaped Patty’s thinking.
I’m certain it played a part in the anxiety and depression she struggled with.
The anxiety and depression that she defeated through her increasing faith in Jesus.
Ms. Patty was born in Devereaux, Georgia.
If you’ve never been there, just head east on Highway 22 out of Milledgeville and keep your eyes peeled.
There’s a sign on the side of the road that says Devereaux Community.
And for years that’s about all there was - but now - of course, they have a Dollar General.
Her parents plan was to name their new baby Patrick.
But the baby was born, it wasn’t properly equipped for that name, so she was named Patricia.
The family did have a Patrick - they had ten children in all.
Patty was second to the youngest.
They are all gone now - Patty was the last of the family to go home.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Somewhere along the way, Jesus made Himself known to young Patricia and the relationship blossomed.
Jesus truly walked with her.
During hard times and trials
During times of questioning and doubt,
Jesus, walked with Patty and talked with Patty and told her she was His own.
Even in the last days of her life where dementia had taken over
And her body was failing.
She found solace in hearing hymns played on the piano.
In her room, playing on a four hour loop were the timeless hymns of the faith.
And as long as they were playing, she was calm.
You know, she taught herself to play the piano.
I’m baffled - I know there are folks that can do that sort of thing - but to me that’s some kind of God magic
She sat down and she learned
And not just learn to hun t and peck - she learned to play so well that all during her teenage years she played for church services.
One of her favorite things to play was Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”
Beethoven.
When you go home today, pull it up on YouTube or Spotify - and think of a teenage Patty working away on a keyboard until she nailed it.
She obviously loved music.
She had a nice grand piano with ivory keys - you know the kind where you don’t want grubby handed little kids pounding away on the thing.
But that wasn’t Patty.
All the grands that wanted to were allowed to pound away on those keys
Might be why some of them are so musical today.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
And press on Patty did.
And where do you even start?
Do you start with her love for her family?
She had a boat load of 20’s and 30’s dresses and boas and feathers and jewelry that the grands would come in and they’d play dress up
I can see them in my minds eye now, having a grand old time at Grandmommie’s house.
Patty’s love language was gift giving and she proved it over and over again.
She made sure Christmases were huge,
She made sure that no Easter passed unless it was replete with a giant Easter Egg hunt.
She was active in charities, and the Daughters of the American Revolution
And she worked hard in her churches.
One of the sweetest things I heard was Amy’s testimony about her own faith.
She said Ms. Patty taught the 2’s and 3’s at 1st Presbyterian in Macon for years
And that Amy was one of her students when she was 2 and 3.
That experience in church and Ms. Patty’s talking about the Lord around the house
Solidified in Amy the deep down soul awareness that there was a God to be known and respected.
And it paved the way for Amy to later hear Jesus’ call and become a Christ follower.
What a gift that mother gave to her daughter.
And that was Ms. Patty’s desire - that her children receive a strong Christian education.
Patty made her family’s life fun.
They loved packing the cooler full of food and drinks and heading off somewhere for a day trip.
All kinds of wheres - but her most favorite destination was the beach.
She loved Panama City Beach and every year they would go for a two week vacation in those white gulf sands.
As PCB grew, Patty would move their stays a little bit further west down the beach
Staying ahead of the crowds so they could enjoy God’s nature.
She loved the beach so much she moved there once.
Lived there for about 7 years.
But something monumental happened that made her move back home
Grand babies.
When the grand babies starting coming, Manana (rhymes with Banana) or Memom or Grandmommie had to come back.
And one other thing she did that I think was just crazy good.
She’d rent an RV and take trips with the kids to all kinds of places.
She was teaching them to explore and wonder and learn about God’s creation.
In the margin of her Bible in the beginning of the book of Acts, Patty wrote two notes.
First, God empowers and uses ordinary people, and two, God honors simple plans more than complex.
It appears Ms. Patty considered herself “ordinary” people.
She grew up in hard times.
She worked hard and graduated from the Georgia State College for Women which is now Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.
She became an IRS agent and was licensed to carry a gun in line of work.
She could be a girlie girl dressing up with 20’s and 30’s dresses
But she was also very, very strong.
Her and Bob were members at Wesleyan Drive Baptist Church and it sounds like they were the hospitality king and queen.
Amy says her mother would throw the best parties.
They hosted sweetheart banquets and teas and would cook and host all kinds of events there.
They were the kind of folks a pastor dreams of having in the church.
Bob was a Gideon and Patty was a part of the Gideon Auxiliary.
The Gideon’s are a very evangelistic Christian organization that’s primary mission is distributing as many Bibles as they can.
And those Bibles are bought, many times, out of their own pockets.
There are no telling how many people are in heaven because of the work of the Gideons.
There are no telling how many people are talking to Patty right now telling her that it was through her work that they met Jesus.
People that Patty had no idea of - they helped to welcome Ms. Patty home.
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
That was her note in her Bible right - God empowers and uses ordinary people.
She was a living testimony of God’s faithfulness.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What I think many, if not most, Christians don’t understand is that we grow in our faith as we question our faith.
I can remember being told many times, you don’t ask that - you just trust that it’s true.
I sure hope you all know that’s nonsense.
It’s by asking questions that we learn.
It’s us looking back on the hard times with a serious questioning eye that we start to see the hand of God in our lives.
A very beautiful statement was made about Patty.
She grew into her love with God.
That’s what we all are supposed to do.
We look at the “spiritual giants” and think we should be just like them
But how did they get to be “giants”
And - AND - what demons are they fighting back each and every day.
Ms. Patty grew to see Jesus in the beauty of a beach sunrise and in the horrors everyday life sometimes brings.
She learned nothing could come betwen her and Jesus.
Regardless of circumstances or what anyone might say or do
Ms. Patty learned to be more than a conqueror through Jesus who loves her so much.
Growing up in the depression and the war, most things were scarce
So the one dessert you could make was a pound cake.
You mixed equal parts of butter, sugar, eggs and flour, mix, bake and there you go.
But when it’s your only dessert for years and years - well, you can only each so much.
So when she could have other things, she did.
But over time, she grew to like pound cake again.
One day, Kristin brought some pound cake to Ms. Patty
And Ms. Patty told her, that’s so good.
Kristin told her, “It ought to be - it’s your recipe!”
And that made her smile.
Patty was an extraordinary, ordinary woman.
She worked through issues, made a life for her kids and spread love and joy everywhere she could.
And at the center of it all was Jesus.
It’s unavoidable and undeniable.
Patty believed she was born a sinner.
She believed she could not make herself right with God and deserved His wrath.
So she called out to Jesus.
Jesus took God’s punishment for sin so Patty could have Jesus’ blessing of being made right with God.
Jesus saved Patty.
And then He showed her how to live.
Jesus will do that for everyone who will trust Him.
There are a lot of hard headed people who refuse to believe it
Patty wasn’t one of them.
Jesus stood by Patty’s side and took her all the way home.
As our closing prayer, let us stand and sing together an affirmation of Patty’s trust in Jesus.
They hymn is Blessed Assurance.
Hymn - Blessed Assurance - Congregation - (1st and 3rd verses)
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest:
Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.
Amen. And Amen.
Graveside
Hear now the Word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Every last one of us will one day be judged by God.
It’s inescapable.
God created all there is.
He made the rules for life and He gave everyone an opportunity to get on board with the plan.
Everyone who realizes they can’t live life as God intended, if they will trust Jesus, that person will be made new and be given everlasting life.
Everyone who decides they can do it on their on - well, when they meet God they will realize they were wrong.
And as much as you might pass that off as whatever, it will happen - mark my words.
Everyone will be judged.
Even those who trust Jesus will be judged, but they will be judged according to their works.
Ms. Patty has been judged.
She stood before Jesus - not to see a replay of the times that would have broken her heart.
No, her life’s work
Every child played with
Every song played
Every fellowship hosted
Every Bible given
Every single deed Ms. Patty ever did
Was tested by fire.
Everything without permanent value burned up.
But everything with permanent value remained.
Some of you were standing after the test.
People that lives were changed because they heard the songs a teenager played in church.
A multitude of 2 and 3 years old who grew up knowing there was a powerful God who loved them.
And who knows how many that were saved because she and her husband gave them a Bible and witnessed to them.
I suspect she cried when she saw the result of a life well lived as an ordinary woman.
And I suspect she cried even more when Jesus presented her with her reward.
Ms. Patty was an overcomer, and the Bible has Words for those who overcome.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Even now, Ms. Patty is sitting at the feet of Jesus, singing “Holy, Holy, Holy”
And looking forward to the day some of us will join her there.
Camden Sorensen - Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Camden Prayer
Song - Amazing Grace (Verses 1 and 5)
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.
When we’ve been there ten thou-sand years, bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first be-gun.
Grace and Peace.
