Person Page - 4368

     His Social Security Number was 232-06-7103.⁴ Michael Wade Burdette Sr. was buried at Shamblin Cemetery, Clendenin, Kanawha Co., West Virginia.^2,5 He married Diana Jean Unknown.⁵ Michael Wade Burdette Sr. was born on February 20, 1961 at Montgomery, Fayette Co., West Virginia.^1,4,2 He died on January 6, 2000 at Clendenin, Kanawha Co., West Virginia, at age 38.^4,2,5 He Michael W. Burdette, the 38-year-old Clendenin man with Lou Gehrig's disease who has been the subject of a Charleston Gazette series since 1995, died Thursday at his home. Burdette's condition had deteriorated since Christmas Eve. He'd caught pneumonia twice, and during the last day of his life he was medicated on morphine, said his wife, Diana. "He finally went to sleep," she said. "He finally got a little bit of peace to him that day." Burdette was a meat cutter at Smith's SuperValu before he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, which is a neurological disease which gradually shuts down the body's systems until the sufferer can't eat or breathe. As Burdette's condition worsened over the years, he and Diana spoke with Gazette reporter Greg Stone about the toll the disease took on their marriage and family life. Diana, who works full-time as a mail carrier, cared for her husband at home. By the time he died, it became impossible to understand him, Diana said. Until the last few words he spoke before he died. "He said my name, and he said it real clear," she said. "He said, 'I'm sorry.'" When his daughter Christie came into his room, she told her father she loved him. "He said, 'I love you, too,' and then he just laid his head back and his eyes just kind of rolled and fluttered, and he was gone," Diana said. Burdette refused to go to the hospital to be kept alive on feeding tubes and machines, she said. "He did exactly what he wanted to do, and he died exactly the way he wanted to die." Burdette was a member of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, Pinch, and United Food & Commerical Workers Union Local 400. Surviving: wife, Diana Jean Burdette; daughters, Christie Michelle Burdette and Jessica Ann Burdette, both at home; son, Michael Wade Burdette Jr. at home; brothers, Kelly of Pinch, Kevin P. of Spencer, Jeff of Clendenin; sisters, Jill Abbott of Clendenin, Ruth Ann Barnette of Big Chimney. Burial will be in the Shamblin family cemetery, Clendenin. on January 9, 2000.⁵

     Clark Wesley Kessinger Jr. was buried at Clark Cemetery, Kanawha Co., West Virginia.^1,3 He married Laura Mae "Locky" Burdette, daughter of Theodore Ray "Ted" Burdette and Hallie May Samples. Clark Wesley Kessinger Jr. was born on January 13, 1930 at West Virginia.¹ He died on September 5, 1954 at South Charleston, Kanawha Co., West Virginia, at age 24.^1,2 He Clark Wesley Kessinger, 24, of 438 Fourth Ave., South Charleston, died almost instantly yesterday when struck by a car on State Rt. 25 near Institute. State Trooper A. V. Doddrill said a car driven by William E. Ellison, 33, of Hansford, struck and killed Kessinger. No charges have been made against the driver pending completion of an investigation of the incident. Surviving: his wife, Mrs. Laura Kessinger; a daughter, Rebecca and a son, Darvin, all of Procious; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Kessinger of South Charleston; three sisters, Mrs. Betty Dawson and Miss Frances Kessinger of South Charleston, Mrs. Patsey McElwain of Elyria, O; two brothers, Thomas in the U. S. Navy at Bainbridge, Md. and Arthur of South Charleston and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. May Kessinger of South Charleston. on September 6, 1954.²

     His Social Security Number was 236-84-0995.⁵ Darvin Lane Kessinger was buried at A. J. Samples Cemetery, Procious, Clay Co., West Virginia.^2,3 He was born on August 5, 1950 at Charleston, Kanawha Co., West Virginia.^5,1,2 He died on December 10, 1998 at Barboursville, Cabell Co., West Virginia, at age 48.^5,2,3 He Darvin L. Kessinger, 48, of Barboursville died Thursday, Dec. 10, 1998, in the Barboursville Home for Veterans. He was a 1968 graduate of Clay County High School and an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Surviving: mother, Laura Gray of Procious; brother, Johnny Mack Samples of Dalhart, Texas; sister, Rebecca Corlee of Dunbar; several Aunts and Uncles. A graveside service will be at the A.J. Samples Cemetery, Procious. on December 14, 1998.³