Lillian Bursch

Lillian was born on January 26, 1925, in Austin, Minnesota, to Lewie and Mabel Holmstrom. She was the second of five children. She had 3 sisters, Dorine, Ardell, and Muriel; and one brother named Donald. From early on, a diligent work ethic was instilled in the children to provide for themselves. The family was very poor; and after 12 years in Austin, they moved to Rice Lake, Wisconsin to start a new chapter in their lives. There, in Rice Lake, Lillian came to work for a Jewish family named the Steins. They took her in to be the family servant girl for about 14 years. Since she was not Jewish, they nicknamed her "Shiksa", which translated, means "Gentile girl". She did a large assortment of jobs for the family, including cooking, cleaning, and serving. However, although she was part of the family, she was also separated from them since she was not Jewish herself. She had to eat at different times than the family, and also sleep in the attic. She was paid $2 a week for her hard work. During this time, Lillian became a young woman, and met a man named Harold Barness. He quickly became the love of her life and they married in 1944. They lived with her parents on their farm in Rice Lake. Within two years, Lillian became pregnant, and in 1946, her first child, Kathy was born. By the following year, Lillian had another child, Karen. Both children were her pride and joy in life. They continued to live on the farm for another three years or so, when they moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where her family took root until 1961; with the only exception of living a year in Chicago in between. During Lillian's time in Eau Claire, she worked for Lutheran Hospital, and in 1951, her third and final child, Linda, was born. She was so excited to have another little girl running around the house. In 1961, Lillian and her family moved, once again, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, she started working for Honeywell as an assembler. Finally, on Thanksgiving of 1965, she moved for the last time. She and Harold bought a rambler 3 blocks away from the Mississippi river in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The town literally sprang up around them. Lillian even recalled going to the town meeting where they were undecided what to name the city. The choices were Coon Rapids, because of the many raccoons around the city and the rapids from the dam, or Flowers, because at that time, along the Boulevard that ran through the main part of town, the city had planted a multitude of various flowers. She was very glad it was not named Flowers, in any case. It didn't sound right to her. She definitely preferred the name of Coon Rapids; and that's where she spent the majority of her time, either at home or around town. As the years went by, Lillian continued working at Honeywell. Her lovely daughters grew up. Karen and Linda both married and moved out and had their own children. Karen moved down to the end of the same road Lillian lived on, while Linda also moved down to the opposite end of the same road. Kathy remained at home with Lillian, which helped immensely, because she was there to comfort her when Harold passed away in 1972. During this period of her life, her children started having their own children. Pamela, Paul, Sara, and Laura were born to Karen; and Amy, Jennifer, and David were born to Linda. They would regularly visit Lillian at her home, and spend time with her when they went out to eat. After a few years of solitude, she met another man named Leonard Bursch and remarried. They used to travel to many places, including multiple visits to Hawaii, Florida, and Cancun. Lillian kept working at Honeywell until 1987, and then retired. But did retiring mean giving up working? Not to Lillian, it didn't. With her work ethic deeply ingrained, she continued working assorted jobs for about another 20 years. She spent time at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and working at grocery stores. She loved interacting with the people she came into contact with. She was a free-spirited, idealistic individual. Her optimism and faith in God could not be shaken, even when she lost her 2 daughters, Karen and Linda to a rare brain disease, or her sister Dorine and her brother Donald some years later. She fervently maintained her relationship with the Lord and put her complete trust in Him, despite the unfavorable circumstances she endured at times. In 2007, Lillian finally quit working for good to be a stay at home grandma. By this time, her grandchildren had their own children as well. Pamela and Albert had Jasmine and Lilly; who was named after Lillian. Paul had Amanda and Kayla, Jennifer had Brianna and Allison, and Amy and Erik had the other half: Megan, Jessika, Zackary, Aleksa, Kaden, and Kameron. Lillian had her grandchildren and great grandchildren over all the time, whether just to visit, or to sleep over and spend time with her and Kathy. She loved to have a clean house; but for some reason, she didn't mind when the great grandkids made messes with their toys. She would just say, "Oh, don't worry about it, we'll pick it up later." She absolutely adored all of them, and sometimes counted the time till when she could see them again, after they had left. Some of Lillian's favorite memories were from Holiday get-togethers. She loved to lavish gifts on her family; and her eyes lit up with delight as she watched them open presents. She liked to sing Christmas carols and enjoyed it when the entire family would all come together; especially at her house or the trips they spent having lots of fun at the Wisconsin Dells.
She had many fond memories of talking walks with Karen, Linda, and Jennifer. They would walk from Linda's house all the way down to Karen's and vice versa. Lillian loved black coffee, and could not understand why anybody would put cream or sugar or even different flavors into coffee and ruin it. One of Lillian's favorite things in the whole world was the deck on her house. She spent as much time out there as the Minnesota weather would let her. When the family would drive up to the house, they knew to walk immediately around back, because that's where Grandma was. Lillian also loved to tell stories. She would tell stories about her childhood, about work, about memories she made with her family, and many other tales. Sometimes you could hear a story 100 times, but somehow it was always entertaining.
Lillian was always very independent and healthy. If you asked her if she needed any help, she would always decline, even if it appeared that she did. She always wanted to be able to take care of her things on her own, so, when she suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in her sleep last Tuesday, on the morning of July 26, 2011, it came as a shock to the entire family. While many of her family members regret not being able to give Lillian a proper goodbye, they are so glad that she did not have to suffer. God was a huge part of Lillian's life, and now she can go home to be with God again. While her loved ones remain trapped here in their earthly bodies, we can take heart in the knowledge that Lillian has finally been set free.
Preceded in death by her parents Lewie & Mabel Holmstrom, husband Harold, daughters Karen & Linda, sister Dorine & brother Donald. Survived by daughter Kathy; 7 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; 2 sisters & many relatives & friends.