Jeanette Faye Cooper Burdette, 78 went home to her heavenly Father on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 surrounded by loving family and friends at Northridge Assisted Living Facility in Opelika. Miss Jeanette waged a brave battle with dementia for several years and is now at peace in the arms of her Lord and Savior. She was born July 3, 1936 in Farmville, Alabama to Claude P. Cooper, Sr. and Georgia Belle Whitten Cooper. Miss Jeanette was the beloved wife of Floyd S. Burdette, Jr. from 1956 until his death in 1983. She was the very precious and cherished mother of four daughters, Cathy Burdette Pate (Jeff) of Opelika, Kimberly Burdette Martin (Patrick) of Northport, AL, Kellie Ann Burdette Howard (James) of Alabaster and Debra Floyd Burdette who died in 1961. Her six grandchildren were her special joys, James H. Spain III (Krista) of Birmingham, Timothy Floyd Spain (Jennifer) of Covington, GA , Robert Jacob Spain (Grace) of Beulah and Anna Katherine Howard, Rebecca Claire Howard and James Danley Howard, Jr. of Alabaster. More excitement came in 2014 with the birth of two great grandchildren, Katherine Belle Spain of Covington, GA and Hudson Jacob Spain of Beulah. She is also survived by her sister, Betty Cooper Etheridge of Sylacauga and brother James David Cooper (Cheryl) of Opelika, as well as many nieces and nephews. Miss Jeanette was a 1954 graduate of Clift High School in Opelika. She was an avid gardener and a long term member of Tulip Garden Club of Opelika where some of her favorite projects were the Garden of Memory on the Auburn University campus, Keep Opelika Beautiful and selecting area homes for yard of the month award. While active in the Tulip Garden Club, she was a past president and held other offices in the club and was also District 5 Vice President for several years. Additionally, she enjoyed painting in Shirley Caswell's ceramics classes at Opelika Parks and Recreation for many years. She was passionate about her church and loved to participate in Bible studies, retreats and service projects. She loved traveling to other countries and had been to Netherlands, Israel, Eng-land, Scotland, Wales, Greece, Turkey and Canada. The family would like to express extreme gratitude to several groups who supported Miss Jeanette in her battle with dementia, Northridge Assisted Living Facility of Opelika, Director Tracie Puckett, nurses and caregivers, and Home Instead Senior Care of Auburn, owners Joan Lasseter and Bridget Jones Sager, office staff /administration and many loving and faithful caregivers. We also wish to thank Miss Jeanette's physician, Dr. Kevin Royal and nurses Tammy and Diana for their skillful and compassionate care as well as all of the prayer warriors of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
OA NEWS 10/24/14