Our Mother, Meredith Ann (Nason) Burkett, was the third and youngest child born to Clayton and Ruth (Seekins) Nason on March 14, 1942 in Waterville, Maine. Everyone called her Ann except for her relatives in Maine, who referred to her as Meredith.
Ann had an extraordinary talent for art: she drew and painted beautifully. She also could build, fix, or redo nearly anything set in front of her. Mom's love of learning and reading provided her with a gift of conversation; she spoke knowledgeably on just about any given subject.
She worked in the factories in Maine at a young age, making fabric or shirts or many other things in between. However, most of her career life was in the hospitality business where she was joined by our father Leon from the late 70's until his death in 1999.
Mom loved the hospitality business, but she also always wanted a floral shop. Her dream came true, but unfortunately she was terribly allergic to a lot of the plant material she had to work with. Despite that, she loved her shop and creating beautiful things.
Ann was the kind of person who was willing to try many things, and she excelled at most of them. When she was young, she would sing for a local radio station in Maine (sometimes with her sisters Carol and Brenda). Mom had a beautiful singing voice. A couple of her favorite songs were "Downtown" by Petula Clark and "Walking after Midnight" by Patsy Cline. She loved to spread the joy of music, like her father who whistled and sang little ditties.
Mom wasn't known for being a cook...but she could make a mean spaghetti sauce and delicious soups!
She also loved solving puzzles, reading, and playing computer games; she was especially crazy about playing Donkey Kong. And Charles Bronson was her Hollywood crush!
She taught a housekeeping course at the University of Florida. She also created programs at the hotel to help the physically and mentally challenged, giving them a chance to learn a skill and become more independent. She and Leon's efforts were written in the Florida Business Journal more than once! Ann was a compassionate soul; if you needed help, she would do what ever she could to help you.
Our Mother had her heartaches which she rarely confessed to. However, she never let those heartaches get in the way of treating others well. Ann selflessly took care of her elderly father and in laws, doing the things that others found difficult to do. It was she who cared for our father while cancer was taking over his life. Mom was the true definition of love: 'service to others'. That was our Mom through and through.
Mom stayed busy during her "retirement" in the last 18 years. She was an entrepreneur, creating a dog clothing business and selling her beloved Christmas Elves. She traveled a bit, and tended to her garden. She even returned to the hospitality industry for a short while.
On September 19,2018 Ann joined her family members who had gone on before her. She is greatly missed and loved by all of her children, their spouses, grand and great-grand kids: Daughter, Ruth-Anne Tseng (Yu-Chian and Sami); Son, Norman Burkett (Evelyn, Michael, Matthew, Glen, Erica, Anna, Lori, Ben, Christian, Grayson, Gavin, Kayla, Katie, Derrick, JJ, Rykker) (Cindy Freed);
Daughter, Donna Norville (Jay, Jennifer, Tyson, Emma, Ty, JC, Angela); Son, Fred Burkett (Annette, Loren, Rachel, Justin); Son, Gary Burkett & wife Marie, and Daughter, Cristie McMillian (David); along with many wonderful cousins, nieces, nephews, and their families, as well as her many lovely friends.
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