Lilly "Bernadette" Burgess

October 22, 1930 - September 18, 2017

Lilly “Bernadette” Burgess 1930 – 2017 Lilly Bernadette Burgess, age 86, went Home to be with Our Lord on September 18, 2017. Services will be officiated by Pastor Gerald Fair at Wood Family Funeral Service Chapel in Tehachapi, California, on October 2, 2017, at 12:30 p.m. Interment will follow the service, at Tehachapi Public Cemetery – Eastside. Lilly was the daughter of Amanda and Lemuel DeVillez. She was one of ten children and the last to pass on. She grew up in Evansville, Indiana, where she worked as a bookkeeper and met her husband, Clarence Hilbert Burgess. A few years after their marriage, and with their fourth child on the way, Lilly and Clarence (better known as Bernadette and Buck), moved across the country to Ontario, California. There, Buck found employment. They settled in a house and raised five children. Needless to say, Bernadette’s greatest life’s work was to love and raise her five children with sacrificial devotion. In addition, she was a loving and nurturing “Grammy” to her eight grandchildren. She passed on to her family a wonderful legacy of faith. Lilly completed some college, and as her children grew up, worked various jobs where she was greatly valued. She related to people in a kind and hospitable way. These talents were especially evident in her later career as a mediator for landlords and tenants for San Bernardino County. After retirement, she moved to Hemet, California, where she celebrated the New Year 2000. There, Lilly formed new friendships and tended her flowers and fruit trees. She had a lovely patio where innumerable times family gathered to play games and visit, with a sweet dessert and coffee. Lilly Bernadette Burgess is survived by four of her children, Beth, Kathy, Paul and Helen; and eight grandchildren, who have been greatly blessed to call her “Grammy” and “Mom.” Arrangements were made with the assistance of Wood Family Funeral Service. For condolences please visit www.woodmortuary.net.