Alice M. Burchill, 96, life-long resident of Bradford County, Pa., passed away Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at the Skilled Nursing Unit of Memorial Hospital, Towanda, with her family at her side.
Alice was born Dec. 31, 1914 to William J. and Helen Ford Byrne of Rummerfield and resided there until her marriage to Thomas Joseph Burchill on June 30, 1937. Alice and Thomas shared 47 years of marriage and were the parents of seven children. Alice attended the one-room Fisher School in Standing Stone from grades one through eight. For her ninth and 10th grade studies she attended Wyalusing High School and completed her high school education at Towanda High, graduating in 1932. Prior to her marriage, she was employed as an office secretary by the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company.
Alice was a life-long member of SS Peter & Paul Parish. She was a former member of the Altar and Rosary Society and the Catholic Daughters of America. She cherished her Irish heritage as her father and several uncles were born in Ireland. Alice loved her kitchen and delighted in baking breads, pies, cookies and cakes. There was always room for someone extra at the kitchen or dining room table for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In Alice's younger years, Sunday breakfasts would go on for hours with many of her children's friends stopping by for her generous servings of hospitality. She will be remembered for many things: her key lime pies, her buckeyes, her sharp wit, her spelling abilities, her many crocheted items, especially her 500 plus scarves, and many afghans which will pass from generation to generation in the homes of her children and grandchildren. In her later years, when her children were raised, Alice enjoyed traveling throughout the country with several of her children. She treasured her trips to Long Beach, Calif., to visit her brother Bill and his wife Marvel and their daughter Erin; her many visits to her son, Bill in McLean and her daughter Ann in Arlington, Va. Her visits to her children and grandchildren in Kingsley, Hanover, Endicott and South Fifth Street in Towanda provided precious memories for Alice and her families.
Her survivors include her daughters, Mary Alice (John) Demangone of Towanda, Ann of Towanda, Elizabeth A. (James) Hofmann of Hanover, Pa., Ellen (Michael) Aherne of Kingsley, Pa., Karen Burchill (Phil O'Donnell) of Langhorne, Pa.; son, Thomas J. (Susan) Burchill of Endicott, N.Y.; sister-in-law, Marvel Petersen Byrne of Artesia, Calif.; 31 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents, Alice was predeceased by her husband, Thomas J. Burchill in 1984; by her son, William E. Burchill in 2000; her brother, William J. Byrne in 2000; her sisters-in-law, Mary Teresa Burchill, and Elizabeth M. Burchill; brothers-in-law, John, Richard and Joseph Burchill and Monsignor William E. Burchill.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Maryott-Bowen Funeral Home, 217 York Ave., Towanda, Pa., where Recitation of the Rosary will be held at 8 p.m.
A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 19, at SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Third Street, Towanda, Pa., with the Rev. Martin Boylan, pastor, as celebrant. Interment will follow in SS Peter & Paul Cemetery, North Towanda Township, Pa.
The family suggests that memorial contributions may be directed to the charity of one's choice or to St. Agnes School, 102 Third St. Towanda, PA 18848; or to the Activities Fund of the Skilled Nursing Unit of Memorial Hospital, 1 Hospital Drive, Towanda, PA 18848 in Alice M. Burchill's memory.
The Daily Review (Towanda, PA) - March 17, 2011