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Ackerman residents mourn loss of mayor |
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Monday, 10 December 2007 |
By GWEN SISSON
Starkville Daily News
ACKERMAN — One of this Choctaw County town’s most well-loved public officials died suddenly Sunday of an apparent heart attack.
Robert Bruce Burney, mayor of Ackerman, died Sunday. He was 47.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Coleman Funeral Home in Ackerman. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Ackerman United Methodist Church with burial to follow at Enon Cemetery.
His passing comes at a time when Ackerman is celebrating recent national recognition. Business Week just rankedthe City of Ackerman No. 20 in the “Top 50 Places to Raise Kids for Less.”
“Ackerman is going to miss a true statesman,” said Frank Black, member of the Ackerman Board of Alderman.
“He was very community-minded and took up a lot of time with the kids. He would help them in any way he could. He was a father-figure to many kids in our community. He did an outstanding job as mayor and brought us into current time in manya reas. We are going to miss him.”
Black said Burney was the type of man to take on a job for himself, not deligate important things to others.
Just two days before his passing, he served as master of ceremonies for the Ackerman Christmas parade.
Burney was a lifelong resident of Ackerman. He was a member of Ackerman United Methodist Church his entire life, where he served as Chairman of the Administrative Board and Head Usher.
He graduated from Winston Academy and Mississippi State University.
He was an Eagle Scout and a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Burney served as alderman in Ackerman before becoming mayor in 2001.
“He was a fine man,” said Ann Coleman, who works at Ackerman City Hall.
“He was a very good boss. He was not just a boss, he was a good friend. He really loved our town and he will be missed.”
Burney was predeceased by his father, William Bruce Burney, Jr. He is survived by his mother, Sara Mitchell Burney Mize of Oxford; sister, Louise Burney of Madison; uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. T.M. Mitchell of Louisville; cousins, Lee Mitchell, his wife, Patty, and their children, Laura Catherine and Robert; Nancy Mitchell Cole and her husband, Jack, and their children, John, Matthew, and Caroline of Monroe, La.
Memorial donationss may be sent to Ackerman United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 239, Ackerman, MS 39735, or the City of Ackerman Park Project, Town Hall, Ackerman, MS 39735.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 December 2007 )
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