Robert D. "Bob" Burdette, 73, of 365 Seneca Rd., died Sunday morning (Sept. 16, 2001) at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., after a short illness.
Born in Hornell on Sept. 5, 1928, he was the son of the late Charles and Margaret Hall (Dudgeon) Burdette. A life long resident of Hornell and North Hornell, Bob was a graduate of Hornell High School and served with the U.S. Army from 1946-1948. He was employed at the former Erie Railroad Accounting Bureau in Hornell from 1948-1960, retiring at the age of 55 from Region 6 New York State Department of Transportation in Hornell, where he was employed as a Principal Engineering Technician.
Bob was a member of the Arthur H. Cunningham American Legion Post No. 440 and the Cpl. J.J. Mooney V.F.W. Post No. 2250 in Hornell. He was also an avid reader and sportsman and loved the peace, beauty and the simplicity of the outdoors, especially the past 15 years of family enjoyment at Black Lake.
His family includes his wife of 47 years, the former Carolyn Gaffney, who he married in St. Ann's Church in Hornell; his daughter, Karen (Bill) Bush and his grandson, Byran Bush, all of Rochester; his step-mother, Elizabeth Burdette of Canisteo; his three sisters, Susan (Tom) Powers of Rochester, Barbara (Dick) Metzler of Lancaster, Pa. and Mary Burdette of Grafton, N.H.; his brother, Charles (Susie) Burdette Jr. of Washington Crossing, Pa.; his cousins, Charles (Laura) Davis, Herman (Earla) Davis, Dorothy (Stan) Smith, Richard (Deanne) Edell, all of Hornell; his cousins-in-law, John DeVinney and Joe (Helen Marie) DeVinney of Canaseraga; his sisters-in-law, Ellen Ragiel and Mary Lou (George) Phillips; his niece, Dana Ragiel; his nephews, Michael, Robert, Christopher and George Phillips, Stephan and Sean Ragiel; and also his close friends, Jim and Lucy Wiley, Frank and Phyllis Bottomley, Mary and Jean Cortese, John O'Driscoll and Floyd and Charlene Loper, all of Hornell.
Calling hours are from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at the Bishop & Johnson Funeral Home, Inc., 285 Main St., Hornell, where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, with his brother-in-law, Deacon George Phillips officiating. Committal services and interment will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery, Town of Fremont. The American Legion will conduct a memorial service at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, those wishing may contribute in Bob's memory to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, in the name of 8-year-old Adam Boyce, son of Ron and Charlene Royce of Rochester (formerly of Hornell), 596 Old Ithaca Road, Horseheads, N.Y. 14845.