Fannin County, Georgia
Dorothy Burger Bandy
Eulogy
February 23, 2009
Dorothy Burger was born to Lucius and Mary Burger at the old Adam Burger log cabin in Tennessee on October 25th, 1924. She was described as a beautiful little girl with cotton white hair. The next few years saw her welcome into the world her brothers and sisters she loved so much. They included Victor, Felix, Gene, Voyte and later on, Lynette. Dorothy may not have looked it but she was a strong and athletic girl growing up. Besides working on her parent’s farm milking, she also played basketball for her school. She told me over and over again a story anytime she saw me watching a basketball game on TV that she was not allowed to wear shorts playing basketball. Instead, her dad, Lucius, made her wear a skirt over her shorts as he saw it as indecent for a girl to be wearing shorts in public.
When I think of Dorothy I always think a character word that describes her, duty. She understood that she had to attend to her duties as a sister to her brothers and sisters, as well as a daughter to her mother and father. For example, when Dorothy was a young teenager, her parents both came down with double pneumonia and were near death. Because of this, she quit school for months to take care of not only the family farm, but also of the daily needs of both her parents and her brothers and sisters. You see, it was never about Dorothy, It was always about the people she loved.
Growing up, Dorothy had great memories of sitting on the front porch with her family singing. One thing Dorothy was known for around here was her beautiful voice. She was a tremendous gospel singer and actually performed with a quartet for years. She also performed for more than 20 years on a, local radio station.
When Dorothy was a teenager, she met the love of her life,
Johnny Bandy.
There was no one she loved more than her Johnny. As one person just recently told me, “I never heard Johnny and Dorothy have an argument.” She was a loving wife to Johnny and a great cook by all who had the pleasure of visiting their home. In 1942, Johnny left for World War II and Dorothy waited patiently for their life to continue together. While he was away, she took care of their home and continued to work on her legendary needlework and flowers.
Although Dorothy and Johnny had no children, she loved her brothers and sisters with all of her heart. She also watched over her nieces and nephews as her own children and loved to spend time with them. One of my fondest memories of Dorothy was spending Christmas with her as a little boy. She and Johnny were so excited to get the chance to have a Christmas morning with children. Watching her nieces and nephews grow up was a great joy in Dorothy’s life. In June of 1973, Dorothy lost the love of her life, Johnny. She would remain a grieving widow the next 35 years. She spent this time visiting with the brothers and sisters she loved so much. She was very close with all of them and her house is covered with the pictures of Victor, Felix, Gene, Voyte and Lynette. Lynette was the youngest of the family and viewed her as a mother figure. They were very close and loved to travel around this area visiting sites and talking about family history. Dorothy was a great historian and I did my best to record as much as I could from her. She felt it was her duty to keep the family stories and history alive for future generations and it is one legacy that will carry on long after all of us are gone.
In 1997, she suffered a stroke. Doctors weren’t sure would recover. They didn’t know Dorothy. She worked like she always did and became well enough to become a worker at the Copper Basin Senior Citizen Center. She was so loved and respected there and she always made a point to take care of others each day. Again, it is another example of her kindness and duty. Even at the hospital recently, Dorothy made sure to thank the nurses who worked to keep her alive and to thank my mom for her kindness. She read the cards that were sent to her and always asked about her nieces and nephews. Even when someone made a mistake she was sure to let you know that it was alright. For example, during her hospital stay, she was so hungry and ordered bourbon salmon and soup. When it arrived, I fed her the soup first. I then crumbled some crackers in it to make it even tastier. She really enjoyed it as I fed her spoonful after spoonful. My mom then opened another container on the plate and stated, “This is the soup. What are you feeding her?” It was the bourbon sauce for her salmon I had been feeding her. I was so embarrassed but Dorothy laughed and told me, “It was still so good!” My last visit to see Dorothy she looked into my eyes and it was such a deep look. I rubbed her forehead and held her hand. She smiled at me with such a deep love that I will never forget it. As I left the room, she called for me and when I turned around she blew me a kiss. When I think of Dorothy Burger Bandy, I think of a little poem.
If any little word of mine
May make some heart the lighter,
If any little song of mine
May make some life the brighter,
God let me speak that little word
And take my bit of singing
And plant it in some lonely vale
To set the echoes ringing!
I don’t think of Dorothy as leaving us. I see her on the beautiful streets of gold walking over to hug her sister, Gene, who is laughing from another one of Phil’s legendary jokes. I see her kissing the cheeks of Victor, Felix and Voyte whose arms are around each other. Of course Felix is holding a fishing pole and Victor has something in his hand to fix. I see her mom and dad grabbing her hand and leading her up the street to be with her Johnny again. I see her standing before Jesus with her family around her and turning around with a huge smile on her face. Dorothy is not gone…she is finally home.
Delivered by her nephew, Thomas Panter, III
February 23rd, 2009