Mrs. Lillian Mounce Burgin died at her home in Somerset on December 1, 2013 after a long battle with kidney disease. She was 95 years old. Lillian was born in Somerset on March 6, 1918. She attended elementary and middle school there and graduated from Somerset High School. In 1938 she married Lester Burgin. Lillian and Lester had three children, David, Bonnie and Patricia. Lester served in the Navy during World War II from 1943-1946. While her husband was in the war, Lillian also served her country by working in a gun factory in Dayton, Ohio. Following that, she had a long and successful career as an accountant at Donenfelds department store in Dayton, where she worked until her retirement. In Dayton, Lillian was an active and well-known member of the Fairview Baptist Church. In addition to serving as the church historian and clerk, where she still gets praise for her intellect and excellent writing skills, Lillian also worked in the church nursery and volunteered her cooking and sewing skills anytime there was a need at church or at the local nursing home. Lillian was an avid newspaper reader and her son, David, inherited that love of newspapers. After graduating from Miami of Ohio and serving in the U.S. Army, David became the editor-in-chief of the Paterson (C.Q.) Daily News, the Peninsula Times Tribune in Palo Alto, CA, The Orlando Sentinel, the San Francisco Examiner, the Dallas Times Herald, The Houston Post, The Oakland Tribune and five related small dailies in the Bay Area. In addition, he was sports editor and city editor of The Washington Star in Washington, D.C. David and his uncle, Andrew Mounce, attempted to buy the Commonwealth Journal in 2005. Their attempt was denied. Patricia shared a part of her childhood with Zella and Sherman Jenkins, her father’s sister and husband in Somerset. In Lillian’s spare time quilting was a hobby she loved. She made many beautiful quilts for family and friends and generously taught many others to do the same. In 2000, Lillian moved back home to Somerset to be closer to her siblings, the late Lois Molen Tucker and the late Andrew Mounce. It was then that she became an active member of the Newcomers Club where she made lasting and treasured friendships. Lillian was preceded in death by her parents Andrew Mounce and Clara Phillips of Oneida, TN; her husband, Lester Burgin; her sisters Lois Molen Tucker of Somerset; Louise Botner of Florida; Helen Cecil of Somerset; her brothers Andrew Mounce of Somerset, Leonard Cecil of Washington, D.C and LaFon Mounce, who was killed at Okinawa in WWII. Lillian is survived by her children C. David Burgin and his wife, Judy, of Houston, TX; Bonnie Prather of Denver, CO; Patricia Farmer and her husband, Bob, of Columbus, Ohio; her grandchildren David Prather of Denver, CO; Christina Schwandt of San Luis Obispo, CA; Mark Farmer of Columbus, OH; Terri Farmer of Long Island, NY; and her great grandchildren, Kolin Prather and Preston Schwandt. Lillian’s keen mind, love of life and great sense of humor will be missed, but long remembered by all who knew her.Burial will be in the Somerset Cemetery at a later date. Southern Oaks Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Lillian Mounce Burgin
