Jean Ann Burden

Jean Ann Burden died Friday Nov. 7 at St. Rita’s Hospital in Lima, surrounded by family and love. She was an amazing nurse, sister, aunt, daughter, mother and wife.

Jeannie was born on Sept. 16, 1948 in Lima to Edwin and Emma (Wurth) Hoersten and raised in a large family that has remained close over the years.

In 1970, she met and married Harry David Snyder and prepared for a future as a wife and mother. But life had other plans. David was killed in a car accident in March of 1972, leaving her a 23-year-old widow with a four-month old son to raise.

She had always been interested in nursing, so when she needed to start her life over, she returned to school. With the help and support of her family and friends, she earned her degree, started a 50+ year career in nursing and raised her son, Aaron David, into an incredible man.

After working in residential care homes and hospitals, she transitioned to educating other nurses. She taught courses at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in Bellefontaine and Clark State College in Springfield. She was a dedicated teacher and mentor, encouraging and supporting her students when they faced challenges. She would sometimes make the long round-trip from Lima to campus on her day off when a student had an illness or emergency and needed to make up a class. In 1994, she was named Licensed Practical Nursing Instructor of the Year by the Ohio Organization of Practical Nurse Educators. She was thrilled when her nephew, Brendan, chose nursing and traveled to Milwaukee on a blizzard weekend in December to pin him.

As her parents aged and needed care, she spent long hours helping manage their care and keeping their lives as comfortable as possible. She did the same for two siblings who battled and survived cancer. She also served as co-guardian and one of the caretakers of her sister, Annie, who was born with Down syndrome.

She was a warm, loving presence in the lives of her family. Her horde of nieces and nephews loved going to Aunt Jeannie’s house to play with her cats and her video games or to just get a hug. She attended their games, graduations and major life events. A talented seamstress, she began making them graduation quilts out of their many t-shirts honoring their interests and achievements.

Jeannie loved cars and was so proud of the 1955 powder blue Chevy she bought in her younger years. She was known to crawl under the car to make her own repairs, and there was talk she did some drag racing in her younger days. She was a long-time NASCAR fan.

And, of course, Jeannie was an animal lover. She adopted her first cat as a child. That cat soon gave birth to four kittens—much to Jeannie’s mom’s surprise. Over the years, she adopted dozens of cats. Two large German Shepherds—Trond and Axel — also became part of her life. Basically, she took care of most any critter who showed up at her house.

She enjoyed running, walking, snowmobiling and biking—joining her brother Greg and sister Judi in long rides around Ohio. She also loved walking around the reservoir or the neighborhood with whichever siblings or friends were around.

Family was a priority for Jeannie. She was lucky enough to find love again later in her life, marrying Jerry Burden—twice, in fact. His sons and their children became part of her extended clan.

She remained close to her large and extended family During the pandemic, her sister Judi organized a weekly Sunday Zoom call that still continues for the siblings scattered from Ohio to Tennessee to Wisconsin. Jeannie and her sisters decided four years ago to take a “Sister Vacation” at Lake James Indiana, a favorite place where their mom spent time in her own younger days. The annual tradition has continued with the sisters laughing, doing puzzles, reading, walking and shopping. Even though Jeannie couldn’t join them this year in September, the sisters all sang happy birthday to her via Zoom and took a picture of all of them wearing their Susan G. Komen race t-shirts.

Recently, Jeannie was part of a Wordle group of friends and family members, who touched base daily.

Survivors include her husband, Jerry Burden and son Aaron David Snyder, Jerry’s sons Chris (Lidia) and Scott Burden. She was also Nana to Justin, Jeremiah (Hannah), Abigail, Trevor and Kameron. She is further survived by her siblings: Kathleen (Brian) Quirk; Greg Hoersten, Linda (Anne Ramsaur) Hoersten, Sandy (Scott) Hofacker, Pat Hoersten, Mark (Linda) Hoersten, Chris Hoersten (Don Guerrero), Judi (Bob) Galasso, Carol (Vern Bockrath) and Annette Hoersten. The horde of nieces and nephews include Brian (Erin), Sean (Sveta), Mary Beth and Brendan Quirk; Adam (Chelsea) Hofacker, Kim Groves, Rick Groves (Nicole Cecil); Sarah (Paida) Saburi; Jennifer (Jason) LaGrange, Lee (Tiffany) Hoersten, Shannon (Phil) Rice; Louis, Joey and Mary Hoersten; Gabe (Amy) Guerrero, Aidan (Brittney) Guerrero; Emma, Anna and Jon Galasso; Kirsten (Miguel) Bautista, Haley (Chance) Steward, Emily (Noah) Peterson, and Jenna Bockrath. Jeannie was also close to the next generation of nieces and nephews: Brian Patrick and Liam Quirk; Nolan and Addy Ugowski; Shonchalai, Chochi, Shoma, Orgaadai, Joey and Khenche Quirk; Xavier Hofacker, Matthew Brown; Chloe, Everlee and Emmalynn Hoersten; Scarlett and Trevor Rice; Caleb, Layla and Andre Saburi; Tillie and Harlan Guerrero; Augustus, Aziyah and Ariella Guerrero. She is also survived by numerous close friends, especially Ann Smith Schenk and Vickie McClintock who have been by her side for many years and were constantly there for her through this cancer fight.

A celebration of Jeannie’s life will be held at Perry Elementary School, 2770 E Breese Road, Lima from 1-4 pm. Saturday, Nov. 15 Donations in memory of Jeannie to St. Rita’s Hospice, 300 E. Market St. Lima, Ohio, 45801 would be appreciated.