Samuel Adamson Burgess, Jr. ’49

Samuel Adamson Burgess, Jr. ’49, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend, passed away peacefully Sept. 14 in Raleigh, N.C. He was born in Jacksonville, Fla., to Samuel Adamson and Madge Blakely Burgess, and spent his childhood in Florida. He studied at Davidson until he was old enough to volunteer for the U.S. Navy Medical Corps during WWII. Upon completing his military service at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia, he returned to Davidson and graduated in 1949. While at Davidson, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. After attending the School of Business at Columbia University in New York City, Burgess was employed in the cashier’s office of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in Harrisburg, Pa., for a year before entering Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., to study for the Presbyterian ministry. Upon graduation in 1952, he was ordained in Sparta, N.C., by the Presbytery of Winston-Salem and called to the Elkin Presbyterian Church in Elkin, N.C. There he met and married Carol Stuart, the love of his life for 56 years. Burgess and Carol soon set sail for Scotland to engage in form critical New Testament studies at the University of St. Andrews. Upon returning home after completing his studies, Burgess became the organizing pastor of a new Presbyterian church in Garner, N.C., in 1956. During his pastorate, Burgess served as a commissioner to the general assembly of the Presbyterian church three times. Love of community and people led him to serve in various offices and organizations, including boards of directors of the American Cancer Society and the Triangle Counseling Center, president of the local PTA, and chaplain for many years at the Garner Civitan Club. Upon retirement in 1990, Burgess volunteered his time tutoring students in the field of reading at Vandora Springs Elementary School and providing support to patients as a volunteer at Rex Hospital. Survivors are his wife, Carol S. Burgess, 1506 Kennon Rd., Garner, NC 27529; son, Samuel Adamson Burgess III (JimiAnn); daughters, Madge B. Webster (David), Barbara B. Smith (Stephen), and Linda B. Cleve (William); eight grandchildren, David Samuel Webster, Andrew Michael Webster, Elizabeth Stuart Burgess, Adam McRae Burgess, Alexandra Nicole Smith, Caroline Wimberly Smith, Mary Hannah Cleve, and William Burgess Cleve; brothers, Leonard Blakely Burgess and William K. Burgess ’58 (Linda); nephews, Blake Burgess and Parker and Phillip Burgess; nieces, Susan B. Jordan, Tracy B. McCollough, and Christine B. Czumak; and many loving cousins in South Carolina. He was preceded in death by one niece, Alison B. Riggsby.