Helen King Burge

Helen King Burge, 95, passed away peacefully Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Gibson Hospice House of Rockingham County with her family by her side.

Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM Thursday, September 28, 2023, at Wilkerson Funeral Home. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. There will be a private burial.

Helen was born to the late Robert D. and Zetta Tickle King. She was a member of Sandy Cross Wesleyan Church where she was a board member for many years and served God’s church in any capacity where there was a need. Mama loved her Lord and Savior and kept the faith that He would get her through anything and everything.

From the age of 85 – 95, she went through many major surgeries that the doctors said, “she would not make it off the table” but our Lord had her all the way. He showed miracle after miracle with Mama. What a wonderful God we serve.

Mama was a special lady with many talents such as sewing, cooking, gardening, and speaking her mind even if you didn’t want to hear the truth. If a store plant looked like it was dying, she would take it home and bring it back to life. She loved to cook and taught many how to cook and make her “old fashioned” pound cake. Mama’s love was to sew and quilt sharing her makings with her friends, neighbors, and loved ones. She has sewed for many dance companies, local schools, and many people from the East Coast to the West Coast and anywhere in between; even Africa. Young ladies would come with a photo of a designer’s wedding dress that they could not afford, and Mama would make a pattern from the photo and Cut, Sew, and Fit them to a tee! When they asked how much do I owe you? Her reply was “whatever you want to give me”. If you wanted to know who, what, where, or when, about anything, my Mama could tell you, because many conversations “gossip swapping 😊” went on between her and her dear customers. Mama will be dearly missed by many.

Along with her parents, she was also preceded in death by her husband Ervin Burge; sisters Rebecca King and Ilene Jordan; and brothers Edgar King and Harold King.

Left to cherish her memories are son Gary Burge and wife Betty and daughter Vicki James and husband David; grandchildren Kevin Burge and wife Alisha, and Dana Simmons and husband, Chad; great grandchildren Memphis and Jax Burge and Taylor Simmons; sisters-in-law Eunice King and Dare Burge; nephew Bruce Webb and Mike King; and a large extended family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Gibson Hospice House, PO Box 281, Wentworth, NC 27375, or St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.