On the occasion of her parent's fifty-seventh wedding anniversary celebrated on Valentine's Day, Jane E. Burdette established an unrestricted fund in honor of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. Richard Burdette, Jr. The "C. Richard and Jewel W. Burdette Anniversary Fund" is used by the Foundation to support projects of
special importance to the community.

Mr. Burdette was a graduate of Parkersburg High School and Cincinnati College of Embalming, and he attended Pittsburgh School of Mortuary and Parkersburg Community College.

Mr. Burdette began working with area funeral homes including Ogdens and Vaughn Funeral Homes when he was 15 years old and eventually owned and operated the former Carney Funeral Home later known as the Burdette and Lindsey Funeral Home prior to the retirement of his partner, William K. Lindsey. He relocated the Burdette Funeral Home to its Market Street location where it operated for more than 20 years. He owned a funeral home for more than 40 years prior to selling and
managing the business for Leavitt Funeral and worked in the funeral business for nearly 60 years. He had also worked for Stern Brothers and Retail Credit
Corporation during his early years.

Mr. Burdette was a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and was associated and served as a member or an officer with the St. Margaret Mary Grade School PTO, Serra Club of Parkersburg, Building & Grounds Committee, North Parkersburg Lions Club, Parkersburg Consumer Advisory Committee, Knights of Columbus (Fourth Degree), BPO Elks Lodge 198, Little Kanawha Funeral Directors Association, West Virginia Funeral Directors Association, National Funeral Directors Association, St. Francis Xavier and the Mt. Carmel Cemetery Association, MS Associates, Parkersburg Catholic Boosters Club, Chamber of Commerce, and the PHS Alumni
Association.

He received the Kenneth Heiges Award for Service to MDA, Distinguished West Virginian Citizen Award and Lions Club pins for 25 and 30 years of membership. He was also recognized by the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association for over fifty years of service.

Mrs. Burdette was a graduate of Lowell High School, Lowell, Ohio and a magnum cum laude graduate from Camden Clark School of Nursing. She completed specialized training programs through Children's Hospital and St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, DC, in the fields of pediatrics and mental health. She passed the West Virginia nurse's licensing exam with the highest score in the State of West Virginia upon completion of nurse's training. Mrs. Burdette worked as a registered nurse for St. Joseph's Hospital and did private duty nursing before beginning work in the Burdette Funeral Home.

Mrs. Burdette was a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, where she participated in Sanctuary Society. She also was a member of All Saints Guild, St. Ann's Circle, Parkersburg Christian Women's Club, Catholic Daughters of America, Caritas, Parkersburg Woman's Club, Parkersburg Junior Woman's Club, West Virginia
Funeral Director's Association, Camden-Clark Nurses Alumni Association, Salvation Army, YWCA, MS Associates, WV Advocates for the Developmentally
Disabled, WV State Nurses Association, Parkersburg Consumer Advisory Committee, the Tea Tyme Golf League, and Friends of the Library. She was a Cub Scout Den
Mother and a Brownie Scout Leader, and she volunteered at St. Joseph's Hospital and Colin Anderson. Mrs. Burdette also served as capital campaign co-chairman
to build the former Crippled Children's Building and serve on its board of directors for the Crippled Children's Association. She was a finalist as the "WV
Mother of the Year" and received the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Hero Award, the YWCA Lifetime Achievement Award, Worthington Elementary Helping Hands Award, and
numerous cooking contest awards. She was a lifetime member of the PTA, Red Cross Nurses, and American Nurses Association. She also was an avid gardener,
reader, and bridge player, and she enjoyed reading to the children at Madison,Emerson and Worthington Elementary Schools.

Mr. and Mrs. Burdette were co-founders of the Mid-Ohio Valley Chapter of MDA, the first chapter and support group for muscular dystrophy in the state which later became the Greater WV Chapter of MDA, serving the entire state.