Jo Ann Scott Sleichter Burgess

Jo Ann Scott Sleichter Burgess, 71, of Fairfax, Virginia, passed away on March 19, 2020, and her loved ones miss her dearly every day. She was always there for family unconditionally. Jo Ann was born in Virginia to a young mom and absentee baby daddy with three young children and one more on the horizon. When Jo Ann was just a toddler her mom skipped town, abandoning her five children, and Jo Ann was secretly adopted (along with baby brother, William) by Wilma and Craig Sleichter. Jo Ann grew up believing that Wilma and Craig were her parents and didn’t learn the truth until after Wilma’s death in 1993. Her birth certificate claims she was born June 27, 1948, but that document also says she was born in D.C. to Wilma and Craig, so she never knew exactly how old she was – folks took poetic license with birth certificates in the 40s to suit their family narrative. Despite a rough start to life, Jo Ann grew up reading voraciously, dreaming of adventure, and boy, did she find it. She met Roger E. Burgess, Jr. on a weekend jaunt to D.C. with her Mary Washington College buddies – she married him in 1971, lived in eight countries through Roger’s work for the State Department, and had four willful children in three of them. Love and dedication were everything to Jo Ann – if you needed a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a couch to sleep on, a home for abandoned kittens and abused dogs, the shirt off her back, she lived to provide it, even when her own times were hard. Giving to others in need was a matter of fact, and there just was no other way to be. Jo Ann was an equally dedicated archivist and editor for the Executive Director of Center for Public Choice, at George Mason University, Nobel Laureate, Dr. James Buchanan, or “Dr. B,” as she called him. Routinely working seven days a week while single-handedly raising her children, Jo Ann edited academic books and journal articles of Public Choice Center scholars, arranged conferences, video-taped seminars, and managed visiting scholars and graduate students. Although she never went to graduate school, Jo Ann understood complicated economic arguments and equations in academic texts, flagging errors and suggesting corrections. Dr. B trusted her to help him strategize around George Mason University politics and praised her brain as better than many grad students. Jo Ann was predeceased by her husband, Roger E. Burgess, Jr. She is survived by her brother, Will von Sleichter (Connie), four beloved children, Roger E. Burgess, III, Matthew J. Burgess (Hanan), Susan K. Burgess (Mason Kalfus), Mark A. Burgess (Jessie), and nine adored grandchildren: Aeda Burgess, Sullivan Burgess, Luca Burgess, Nora Burgess, Jeremy Kalfus, Ryan Kalfus, Sadie Kalfus, John Burgess and Daniel Burgess. Jo Ann is interred at Arlington National Cemetery with her husband, Roger E. Burgess, Jr., a U.S. Air Force Vietnam veteran who served in the State Department for twenty-seven years and retired after serving as Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua and a detail to OAS. Donations in her honor may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.