Beverly Burnette

“Miss B”

Beverly Dianne Burnette, affectionately known as “Miss B” passed away on April 24, 2025, with her sister, Charlene Wertz by her side. Born August 11, 1947, in Charlotte, North Carolina at Presbyterian Hospital, she was born the daughter of the late Charles Watson Burnette and the late Annie Henley Burnette.

As a young child, Beverly attended Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and graduated high school from Garinger High School. She chose Appalachian State Teachers College, which is now Appalachian State University, to pursue her art degree. She graduated from ASU in1969 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. During the summer of her sophomore year, Beverly got a job at Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center in the gift shop. While there she made friends at Camp Ridgecrest for Boys which was on the other side of I40. The next several summers she worked as the crafts counselor and her Indian name was Creative Canary.

In the autumn of 1969, she took a job at Central Cabarrus High School in Concord, North Carolina as the art teacher. During her time there, she helped many of the students develop their appreciation of art, as well as their individual talents. On May 10, 1974, the Alpha Mu Chapter of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society, which is dedicated to excellent women educators inducted her into this organization. Being the art teacher, she learned quickly that her job included a lot more than teaching art. Beverly was able to share her love of art by taking a group of students on a European trip to see some of the great pieces in the world. Over the years she and the students came up with elaborate and unique decorations for the Prom, created sets and scenery for the drama departments plays. All of the extra things helped make her Cabarrus County Teacher of the Year.

One of the things Beverly was asked to do as an extracurricular activity was become the cheerleading coach. This turned out to be a place where she thrived. From 1974 to 2005 she grew the Cheer program to be one of the best in the state of North Carolina winning 11 State Coed Championship Teams in 17 years of competitions. Her squads competed not only in North Carolina, but nationally as well and were able to win a national championship in 2001,

A big challenge came when Beverly and some other cheer coaches felt that cheerleaders were not getting enough support from the state athletic department. This group got together and organized the North Carolina Cheerleading Coaches Association and lobbied to make cheerleading a sport and finally won over the North Carolina High School Coaches Association. One of the goals of the Cheerleading Coaches Association was to help fund clinics for coaches to learn safety to help keep students safe who were doing things the right techniques. Beverly was President of NCCCA for 6 years and Executive Director for 12 years. When she retired from teaching, she was asked to coach Wingate University’s cheer squad in 2006. Who’s Who in High School Cheerleading and Who’s Who in College Cheering were both awarded to Miss B over the years.

Summers gave Miss B an opportunity to travel. Charlene and Beverly were fortunate enough to attend the Olympics 4 times: the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Los Angeles, and Atlanta and the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. They also went to the NCAA men’s Final Four in New Orleans. Unfortunately, there were no local teams that year. Beverly enjoyed going to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Ashville, and anywhere she could shop till she dropped.

Beverly enjoyed her part time jobs at the Charlotte Coliseum in the ticket office and Charlotte O’s Baseball team at Crocket Park in the Ticket Office. When the Baseball team moved to Fort Mill, she became the customer service representative during the games and moved with the team again when they moved from Fort Mill back to Charlotte, North Carolina to the Knight’s Stadium uptown where she worked until she had her first stroke in 2017. She recovered and had to do rehab and when she started not taking her medication and had her 2nd stroke she moved in with Charlene and Randy. During this time period she was doing good but ended up in the Hospital with pneumonia and was in hospital for like 13 days and had to go to rehab at Asbury when released from the hospital. When it was time for Beverly to be released from Asbury, she went to Brookdale Charlotte East Assisted Living where she lived until her death.

Beverly is survived by her sister Charlene (Randy). Nephews Mike (Erika) of Concord and their children, Colette and Carrick; Corey (MS. Corey) of Sanford, NC; and Tyler (Jen) and their children Lacy and Jamie of Mt. Pleasant, NC.

In lieu of flowers, make a contribution to St Jude Research Hospital, PO Box50 Memphis, TN 38101-9929 or Alzheimer’s Association; Western Carolina Chapter,

4600 Park Road Suite 250, Charlotte, NC 28209