Berneta Burnam

Berneta Elaine Leaf was born in Lindsborg, Kansas, on December 11, 1928, daughter of Bernard and Judith (Valine) Leaf. She graduatedfrom Lindsborg High School, attended Bethany College in Lindsborg, and the Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was married to Roy P. Burnam, Jr., December 23, 1951 . Two daughters were born to them: Sonja Lynn and Pamela Joan. Berneta died at Bethany Home in Lindsborg on February 23, 2013. In Hickory, North Carolina, for almost 30 years Berneta developed a musicstudio in her home, teaching stringed instruments, piano, and voice, with additional locations in Morganton, Lexington, and Salisbury. Her special emphases were collaborative playing and the study of music theory. Many of Mrs. Burnam's students continued with their musical studies professionally and avocationally. Berneta was one of the co-founders of the Hickory Symphony Orchestra which still exists today as the Western Piedmont Symphony. She was an active member of St. Cecelia Music Club, led church choirs at Christ Lutheran and Miller Lutheran Churches, and served on the inaugural board of the Hickory Civil Rights Committee during the critical and beginning stages of desegregation in North Carolina. In 1981, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was deeply involved in the lives of her daughters and three grandsons. She was active in Woodland Presbyterian Church and Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion. In 2005, she moved back to Lindsborg where she reconnected with family and friends from the past and attended the many special events and concerts offered in Lindsborg. She moved into Bethany Home in 2011. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Joanna, and brother Robert (Barbara). She is survived by her daughters Sonja Lynne Brown (Thomas Tuson) and Pamela Jenkins; grandsons Dorian Brown, Derek Jenkins, and Andre Jenkins (Jamie); great-granddaughter Joelle Jenkins; brothers Edward and Alan (Karen) Leaf, and sister Ruth Ann Leaf. There will be a memorial service at the Bethany Home Chapel in Lindsborg, on Friday, March 1, at 2:00. Additionally, a service and inurnment will be held later this year, also in Lindsborg. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Berneta's name to Bethany Home in Lindsborg, or to the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion in Philadelphia. http://www.lc-hc.org/drupal/.