Laura Burken

NAPOLEON - Laura Mae Burken, 95 of Napoleon, died peacefully on July 31, 2022, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Born December 23, 1926, in Defiance, Ohio, she was the daughter of Walter and Josephine (Hiler) Weidenhamer. On May 31, 1952, she married Hubert (Bud) Burken Jr., who preceded her in death on April 13, 2016.

After attending Defiance-St. John Catholic school for nine years and graduating from Defiance High School in 1946, she was homemaker and an avid gardener. Laura's children and grandchildren were the light of her life and she enjoyed spending time with them. She was a seasoned euchre player and has been known to play cards well into the night. She was well known for ringing the loudest cowbell at her son's football games, where she also adopted many of her son's friends as her own. She was a very active member of St. Augustine Church. She volunteered at St. Augustine for several years and even received the Top Hat award from the Diocesan Council of St. Vincent de Paul with her husband, Bud. Whether it was blood drive, the fall festival or the Turtle Fest, Laura was always making roasters of her famous baked beans or German potato salad, bean soup and many other crowd favorites. It is no surprise that she excelled at preparing large amounts of food as she and Bud together had 12 children.

She is survived by six sons, William (Suzie) of Anaheim, California, David of Oregon, Steve (Christina) of Batavia, Illinois, Michael (Monique) of Westminster, Colorado, Mark (Christa) of Napoleon, and Timothy of Conway, South Carolina.

Also surviving are four daughters, Katherine (Jim) Goorskey of Wisconsin, Theresa (Steven) Segarra of St. Petersburg, Florida, Mary Burken of Illinois and Marcie (Kenneth) Czarny of Mt. Prospect, Illinois. Surviving also is her brother, Gerald (Gerry) Weidenhamer. Laura has 22 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

She was also preceded in death by her son, Bruce in 2003 and daughter, Helen in 2022; her parents and eight siblings including Bernard Weidenhamer, Margaret Wasserman, Donald Weidenhamer, Charles Weidenhamer, Virginia Burger, Betty Stever and William Weidenhamer.

Services will be held at Walker-Hoening Mortuary at 333 W. Main St., Napoleon on Tuesday, August 9 from 3-7 p.m., with a Vigil and top hat ceremony beginning at 6 p.m.

Funeral will be held at St. Augustine Church on Wednesday, August 10 at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Augustine Cemetery in Napoleon. Father Jerry Schetter will be officiating.

The family suggests memorials be made to the American Heart Association or St. Augustine Church. Friends are invited to share a memory of Laura and sign the online guestbook at www.hoeningfuneralhome.com.