Burnett Elizabeth McConkey

Burnett Elizabeth (Lib) Walton McConkey died peacefully Monday, July 31, 2017, at the age of 96 following an extended infirmity. She will have a simple graveside service at 2pm Friday, August 4th in High Point's Floral Garden Memorial Park. She was born in Greensboro, N.C., on June 27, 1921, to parents Florence Oldham Walton and John Rufus Walton Sr., both of whom preceded her in death. She also was preceded in death by sister Ruth Stockton, wife of Joseph Stockton, of High Point; sister Nancy Edith Brown, wife of George K. Brown, of Greensboro; brother John Edward "Bud" Walton, husband of Violet Walton, of High Point; brother John Rufus Walton Jr. of High Point; and sister-in-law Jessie "Sis" Cornette, wife of Hulon Cornette, of High Point. Elizabeth McConkey is survived by nephew Michael Cornette and his wife, Linda, of High Point; nephew Chris Cornette, a Baptist minister in Florida; nephew Gregory Brown and his wife Holly of Valdosta, Ga.; and good friend Virginia Hicks of High Point, who served as Mrs. McConkey's power of attorney and saw that she was well-cared for during the last two years of her life. Mrs. McConkey's parents moved to High Point, N.C., where they took her out of school in the sixth grade and put her to work during the Great Depression of the 1930s. She married Otis Lee McConkey on August 29, 1942. Otis McConkey served as radio operator in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, seeing action at the Battle of Pelelieu in1944. After the war, the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where Mr. McConkey attended television school. They then moved to Baltimore, Md., in the early 1950s, where Mr. McConkey worked at WMAR as one of the first television engineers and was responsible for some of the earliest live TV football broadcasts. Mrs. McConkey later found an office job at Baltimore's Loyola College. In her mid-forties, Mrs. McConkey obtained her General Education Development diploma and an associates' degree in business from Baltimore Community College in Maryland. She returned to High Point following her husband's death in December, 1968, and earned a bachelor's degree in education from High Point College. She was a teacher at Ferndale Middle School in High Point while earning a master's degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A full-time business instructor in Guilford Technical Community College's campus in High Point for more than a decade, she retired in 1991. Deeply devoted to her family, Mrs. McConkey provided personal care and paid funeral expenses for her brothers and sister-in-law Violet, all of whom died with cancer. She also was responsible for her sister Ruth following the death of Ruth's husband. She was unable to walk and suffered much pain in her final years but remained a committed Christian who loved and trusted in Jesus. She was a good and caring person who made the world a better place and will be greatly missed by those who loved her. A lifelong member of Green Street Baptist Church in High Point, she asked that contributions in her memory be given to the Salvation Army in lieu of flowers or other remembrances. Online condolences may be made at www.DavisFuneralsandCremations.com.