Norma Lee Hale-Burns

1933 - 2004

Norma Lee Hale-Burns, formerly of Palestine, a retired educator, passed away Sunday, March 7, 2004, at a Fort Worth nursing home.

Memorial Service: A Mass is scheduled for Mrs. Burns at 12:05 p.m., Oct. 8, 2004, at St. Patrick Cathedral in downtown Fort Worth. Funeral: was held Wednesday, March 10, in Laurel Land Memorial Park of Dallas, with Joseph B. Christopherson, senior pastor of King's Brook Church, officiating.

Norma Lee Hale-Burns was born Feb. 11, 1933, in Dallas. She spent most of her life in North Texas, living in Dallas, Balch Springs, Blooming Grove, Corsicana and Palestine. She also lived in Southern California for two years in the late 1950s, and lived in Denver, Colo., from 1964 to 1967.

She attended Adamson High School in Oak Cliff and completed her undergraduate work in government and education at Southern Methodist University and North Texas State University. She earned a master's degree in special education from Texas Woman's University and a doctorate in special education from the University of Denver in 1974.

Mrs. Burns was certified by the state of Texas as an educational diagnostician and as a teacher for all grades and all subjects.

From 1967 to 1978, she owned and operated the McDonald Developmental Home, a facility for physically and mentally handicapped children, located in Balch Springs. It later relocated to Blooming Grove.

It was recognized by state officials as one of the leading facilities of its kind in Texas, and was profiled in several media pieces in the 1970s, including articles in the Dallas Morning News and Dallas Times Herald. Mrs. Burns later taught special needs inmates of the Texas Department of Corrections in several units in East Texas.

Mrs. Burns had a lifelong love of working with children and the less fortunate. She also enjoyed caring for animals, particularly horses. She enjoyed living in the country and owned many animals throughout her life, including miniature horses, cats, dogs, llamas, poultry and various other livestock. She also enjoyed playing piano and cello.

She was preceded in death by her parents, George LeRoy Hale and Ruth Scrimshire Hale McClatchy.

Survivors: Husband, Troy Burns of Palestine; brother, William J. Hale and his wife, Natalie of Cedar Hill; sons, Marc McDonald of Fort Worth and Tim McDonald and his wife, Cynthia of Richardson; daughters, Shelley McDonald of Fort Worth and Kathryn Price of Huntsville; and grandchildren, Timothy McDonald, Rebecca McDonald and Christopher McDonald, all of Richardson.