Alice Ann (Chavez) Burns

Alice Ann Burns was born on February 2, 1944 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma, to Guadalupe (Jose) and Claudia Chavez.  She was the fourth child born of 15 siblings. She was nine years old when she started picking cotton “the cotton rows seemed endless, toting a bag as big as me; Picking cotton until my hands bled.” I have several memories mom spoke of, here are few “We would come home from school and mom would have fresh pies cooling in the window”.

“In middle school a teacher was going to give me swats, I picked up a chair and I didn’t get swats”.  She later quit school to afford her sister Josie the opportunity to finish her education. She loved to dance and “as a teenager while dancing with my partner people would stop dancing and they would make a circle around us to us watch as we danced. She loved disguise herself at Halloween. Again, “in middle school I dyed my hair green with food coloring, unfortunately it had to wear out, so I had green hair for a while”.

 She met her first love at Roosevelt middle school, Allen Burns.   Allen bought Alice her first car in high school. Mom was married to her first love, the only of her life at the age of 18. This marriage would last 37 years until the passing of my father. Together they had a baby girl in 1963.

Mom’s brother Ernie moved in with my parents and we moved to Tulsa Oklahoma.  She learned to hunt and to clean everything my dad and uncle Ernie carried home for her to cook for dinner.  She mentioned how she “used to skateboard with little Jim down by the hill” remembering it was “fun”. She would “pack up and take the bus with me in toll to come to the city to see mom and dad”.

  Mom loved to cook, she would cook for dad and dad’s crew. They all loved her food and she loved cooking for them. In 1968 we moved back to OKC to Mulligan Flatts. Mom began working at Market Pre-pack, she worked there for several years.  While working there she gave birth to her first son Mark Allen Burns. My uncle Earie moved out and we moved to NW 11th and Pennsylvania in OKC. She began working at Safeway warehouse along with her sidekick, baby sister and best friend Josie.

Her baby brother Johnny her younger sister Francis lived with mom and dad for a short while. Mom’s door was always opened to family. 

She loved flowers, plants, rocks, junking and arts and crafts. She could turn her finds into beautiful works of art.  She was a very industrious woman.

A few years later mom and dad bought a house on SW 27th street in OKC.  In the late 80’s hard times hit; In 1984 mom went to work at the Downtown Baptist Church food room where she was paid with food because she refused to take anything for free. This soon became a paid position in which she was extremely devoted and loyal to feeding the homeless. While working there her duties were food bank drives, picking of donations, and delivering to the shut ins. She was very generous of her time and energy beyond the call of duty. Her only focus on that position was feeding the hungry and she befriended many of the patrons that frequented the food room. It was a very important role she embraced; it became her second home. She remained in this position until the doors closed in 2012.

 While working in the food room in 1994 she encountered a homeless boy with his dad.  Her heart was broken for him and soon, single handedly on her limited income adopted him and has called him son until her passing.  She loved playing video games “Nintendo” together with the boys.  She had gotten pretty good at it and she would often win.

In 2000 she adopted her two grandsons Mark Allen and Sidney.  They became her life and were “her boys”! They kept her young and fighting amid failing health issues. Her only prayer  to God was for her to see her boys raised and graduated”. She loved to take Sidney riding around the lake and all over Oklahoma.  That was their fun!

 Her love ran deep, she would help anyone at any time. She loved to give to others.   She would go get food and think of all the things she could give everyone that might be in need, that was mom. She would bring her big sister things because she loved her deeply.

She love her granddaughters, Alisha ”Spanky” Paudel and Patricia “Sissy” Loncries .  She loved her two great sons Jameson Paudel and J’hari Burns they were the light of her eye. They brought pure joy to her heart. She loved her great grandson J’hari and would go to see him often. A part of each of her kids and heart will always be in heaven with her as we look towards our eternal resting place. She will be forever missed, and her love will forever be with us. 

She is survived by 5 children: Sandra Burns-Grizey, Mark Burns, Terry Burns, Mark Allen Burns Jr. and Kyaesjia, and Sidney Burns with Elizabeth, her granddaughters Alisha Paudel and Patricia with husband Isaac Longcrier, 2 great grandsons Jameson Grizey and J’hari Burns. She is also survived by five sisters, three brothers and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great-great nieces and great-great nephews and friends. She will be forever loved and missed.

Visitation will be on Tuesday, at 1:00 PM at the John Ireland Funeral Home, 120 S. Broadway, Moore, Ok.  Funeral services will be on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021 at 10:00 AM at the John Ireland Funeral Home Chapel.  Interment to follow at Sunnylane Cemetery, Del City, OK.  Services are under the direction of John Ireland Funeral Home, Moore, OK. 

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