Obituary for William Frank "Bill" Burris
The house on Crittenden Street in Arkadelphia was a gathering place for my dad, his siblings and all the grands for several joyful decades. Dad was the first of the four children born to George and Louise to be born in the hospital in Arkadelphia.
Dad was employed in the masonry business most of his adult life, and for several years owned his own masonry business. In his younger years he was an avid sportsman, shooting his limit of quail every season and freezing them to make our Christmas dinner of fried quail for several holiday seasons. He bred and raised English setters and German short-haired pointers to help him bird hunting. He also hunted squirrel and deer.
On Independence Day in 1980, he married Maxine Pettit, the love of his life. After retirement, Dad and Maxx moved to the small holding of acreage outside Hector, passed down through his family for generations, having been homesteaded in 1839 by his great grandfather, James Littleton Burris. There he built his home with little help, breaking a couple of bones in the process, but persevering through the completion of the home.
In his later years, Dad still loved wildlife, but the shooting he did was with a camera, not a gun. He and Maxx adopted and cared for multiple dogs and cats, most of whom had been abandoned by previous owners.
True to the "Burris bullhead" as his mother called it, Dad chafed against the restrictions of age and declining health. He leaves to honor his memory his widow, Maxine, three daughters, five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren, his youngest sister, and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews and other extended family.
Dad was employed in the masonry business most of his adult life, and for several years owned his own masonry business. In his younger years he was an avid sportsman, shooting his limit of quail every season and freezing them to make our Christmas dinner of fried quail for several holiday seasons. He bred and raised English setters and German short-haired pointers to help him bird hunting. He also hunted squirrel and deer.
On Independence Day in 1980, he married Maxine Pettit, the love of his life. After retirement, Dad and Maxx moved to the small holding of acreage outside Hector, passed down through his family for generations, having been homesteaded in 1839 by his great grandfather, James Littleton Burris. There he built his home with little help, breaking a couple of bones in the process, but persevering through the completion of the home.
In his later years, Dad still loved wildlife, but the shooting he did was with a camera, not a gun. He and Maxx adopted and cared for multiple dogs and cats, most of whom had been abandoned by previous owners.
True to the "Burris bullhead" as his mother called it, Dad chafed against the restrictions of age and declining health. He leaves to honor his memory his widow, Maxine, three daughters, five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren, his youngest sister, and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews and other extended family.