Eleanor Grace Burrows

Eleanor Grace Sulek Burrows died on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Hallsworth House, Monessen. At 92, she was ready, but we weren’t quite prepared to say goodbye. 

Much-loved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and loving wife of James Edward Burrows Sr., she passed away four months after our Dad. Married for nearly 67 years, they had known each other for more than 70.

Born June 18, 1932, she was the proud daughter of her beloved parents, John and Catherine Sulek. She grew up in California, PA, in a home where her parents instilled the importance of a strong faith, a strong work ethic and a commitment to truly seeing others and treating them with fairness. 

A longtime teacher and learner, she attended what was then California State Teachers College, where she was a “traveling student,” walking a few blocks from her home to campus, the hub of her much-loved college town.

She taught elementary school in the Jeannette School District prior to and early in her marriage to our Dad, whom she met on a blind date and married on June 11, 1957. She later taught in the Head Start program, was a long-term and short-term substitute teacher, and then taught first grade for many years at St. Sebastian School, Belle Vernon. She loved her students and took great pride in their accomplishments, finding tremendous joy in watching them learn and grow. We often heard, “he or she was one of my first graders!”

A longtime member of St. Sebastian Parish, Belle Vernon, she helped to lead the children’s liturgy program and also the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) program.

Lover of maps, music, dancing, daisies, cloud configurations and brisk fall days, she was a nurturer and caregiver who took tremendous pride in her family. We all have warm – and some funny – memories of our Mom, “Mimi” and “Great-Mimi,” including violet-picking in the spring, kite flying in fall, listening to the wind, family trips to Bethany Beach, sing-alongs to grandson Sam’s guitar, picnics, bonfires, pierogie (pirohi) making, personalized gag gifts at Christmas, scrapbooking and stories, so many stories. More than putting photos together in scrapbooks, she valued the journaling, leaving treasured, handwritten messages for her children and grandchildren.

Especially connected to her grandchildren, she found ways to support their talents and gifts – from teaching, nursing, theater, music, art and writing. She and our Dad took them for walks to the park, to playgrounds, paid for summer art and music lessons, and later attended their sporting events, recitals, theater productions and visited them on their respective college campuses, visits they enjoyed tremendously.

A person of faith, she lived that faith in so many ways large and small. She was always there for others, especially her family. Nowhere was that better reflected than the years she cared for our Dad, her longtime dance partner, during his long battle with dementia.

A storyteller, who firmly believed that our own stories are built on the hard work and talents of those who preceded us, she instilled in us the need to be keepers of the stories. She also said that she wanted her death to be a joyful celebration of life with family, friends and the ties that connect us to each other. We are committed to being the story keepers, sharing her stories with love and pride and with echoes of her voice.

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by nine siblings and half siblings, four of whom died in infancy. Survivors include three children, Angela Burrows (Joe Napsha) of Greensburg, Carol Walkush (Buck) of Rostraver and Jim Burrows (Steph Wolf) of Chanhassen, MN; six much-loved grandchildren, Annie Wozniak (Brandon) of Rostraver, Julie Walkush of Irwin, Joseph A. Napsha of Hempfield, Daniel Napsha of Brooklyn, NY, Kelli Felmlee (Charlie) of Chanhassen, MN, and Sam Burrows (Alli) of Crystal, MN; five beloved great-grandchildren, Bryson, Taysom and Brynlee Wozniak and Nora and Henry Felmlee; wonderful, longtime friend, Carol Cintron, who lovingly cared for our Dad and later our Mom; two sisters-in-law, Dorothy Sterdis of Finleyville and Gai Sulek of Greensburg; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and neighbors.

Visitation will be held Friday from 4-8 PM at the Parzynski Funeral Home & Cremations LLC, Family Owned and Operated, 626 Broad Avenue, Belle Vernon 724-929-6183. Prayers of Transfer will be held Saturday at 9:30AM in the funeral home followed by funeral mass at 10 AM at St. Sebastian RC Church with the Msgr. Roger Statnick as celebrant. Interment will take place at a later date in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made in memory of Eleanor Burrows to the Rostraver Public Library, children’s Program at https://www.rostraverlibrary.org/