NIKKI BURR

BURR NIKKI BURR Surrounded by love, having lived a full and happy life, Nikki Burr passed away on January 31, 2014 at The Fairfax, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. She died peacefully with her husband, Ned Burr steadfastly by her side. A Memorial Service will be held for her at The Fairfax (Telegraph Road and Route 1) at 2 p.m.on Monday, February 10, 2014. Patricia Nicholas Burr was born on April 27, 1924 to Blaine and Lyra Nicholas in Douglaston, Long Island, New York. The youngest of three daughters, as a teenager took on the nickname "Nikki", how she would be known for the rest of her life. She attended Hannah More Academy in Reisterstown, Maryland. She attended the Columbia School of Journalism in New York City and in early 1944 she was hired by the New York Times. She worked for the Editor of the Food Department and with Dr. Benjamin Fine in the Education Department providing research for their columns and writing on her own. On December 21, 1946 she married Capt. Edward Burr II, known as Ned, and embarked on a life as an army wife which included a year of separation in 1951 as he was in combat in Korea. From the time of her marriage until her husband's retirement from the Army in January, 1967 she moved her family 17 times across the country as well as to Europe and back. One of her most memorable moves was in 1963 when she was solely responsible for moving her family from Colorado Springs to Germany to join her husband. In 1967, Ned and Nikki finally settled in Fairfax in a beautiful home where they lived happily for the next 36 years. In 1968, Nikki returned to the work force and began writing for the statewide Globe Newspapers. Her weekly column was entitled "Around and About" and the column won two annual Virginia Press Association Awards for best feature writing. After several years with the newspaper she went to work with a public relations firm in Maryland, "Weitzman and Associates" as a Copy Chief, writing copy for radio, television, and newsprint. She was involved in voluntary work much of her life. As a youngster she was the sailing counselor at Camp Kineya in Burlington, Vermont. During World War II she was a hostess at events held for wounded service members in New York City. She sang regularly in church choirs wherever she lived, was the co-head of a Girl Scout troop, participated actively in women's groups, and shepherded the families in her husband's battalion for over two years. Nikki was on the Board of the Washington DC YWCA and worked actively at the Gallows Road YWCA with water therapy patients, creating a dynamic training video on water therapy. She later did freelance writing for the Northern Virginia Aids organization and became a regular at providing transportation for AIDS patients. She continued to participate in the activities of women's groups and was for over twenty years a member of the Fairfax "Tuesday Afternoon Club." She was a strong, capable woman who knew what she wanted and went for it, and yet maintained her very loving and gentle nature. Her greatest achievement in life was the loving marriage she had for 67 years with her Beloved Ned, and her greatest joy were her wonderful children, Shelley Heller Bacharach of Seattle, Washington and Edward (Chip) Burr of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and their children and their children. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Treatment Action Group, (www.treatmentactiongroup.org) an AIDS Research and Policy Think Tank.