Those 3 principles at heart of Burses’ near 53-year union
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”
— Proverbs 18: 22 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
— Ephesians 5: 25
By EJ POND Staff Writer
Eva Williams and Leonard Burse, Jr., grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same schools, played on the same streets, but they never really knew each other. He was a year ahead of her in school and their orbits had not yet collided.
As a Waycross High School junior, Leonard worked after classes at the Gulf gas station in what is now Papa John’s Pizza. Eva walked past the station every day on her way home from school.
“She’d be coming from school walking down Wilkerson Street,” recalls Burse. “She looked real nice and dressed nice. I can still remember what she had on one particular time. It was a brown skirt and a cream-colored blouse. That’s back when they wore those oxford shoes, the light brown and the dark brown, and the long socks and I can remember how she had her hair fixed.
“She walked real slow going by. Then she started coming in buying chewing gum. There was another store next door, but she always came to the Gulf station. It kind of started from there.”
“I was the one who really approached him,” says Mrs. Burse with a grin. “I decided to go after him.”
They jokingly recall a high school football game as a turning point in their early courting days.
“One time, at a football game, she just walked up and said, ‘Gee, you’re rather short,”’ Burse said, “and I thought, ‘I don’t know, maybe she’s interested in me, too.’ The rest is history.”
“I was with one of my friends,” laughs Mrs. Burse. “I decided I would go up and play with him a little bit. After a while he started coming by my house instead of going the other way to his house.”
“After I started having an eye for her, I changed my route, going by there just to wave,” Burse said smiling. “She would be out there every day. I changed my whole route, burned up more gas, just to come by to wave.”
Burse remembers fondly the first time he kissed Eva there on the street.
“I took my grandson over there one day,” Mr. Burse said. “I said, ‘JT, you see that spot right there?’ He might have been 12 or 13 at the time. ‘The first time I kissed your grandmother was right there,’” said Burse chuckling.
“He said, ‘Oh, Poppa, don’t be saying that!’ I tell people I’m going to get the state to put a plaque in the cement. This is a sacred spot.”
Leonard and Eva dated for two years before they married at the Ware County Courthouse April 21, 1972. Each was just 18.
Following the ceremony, Eva’s sister and her husband took the young couple for a celebratory meal at the Green Frog.
They began married life in Apartment 51 in Garlington Heights where they stayed for about six months.
“Every now and then I ride by there and I just stop and just look,” said Burse. “Sometimes you need to remember where you came from.”
Leonard turned 19 in June of 1972 and in July began working for the railroad where he stayed for 42 and a half years.
Although those early years were lean, Leonard and Eva made sure to make special time for themselves.
“Every Friday we would eat at a little restaurant there’s a mattress place there now. It was a standing thing we did for a long time,” said Burse.
“We didn’t have much money, and back then there were a lot of places we weren’t allowed to go in. We would go to the Tastee Freeze a lot,” said Mrs. Burse. “We couldn’t afford much, but he did wonderful. He is a wonderful husband. Love’s got to be at the center of everything and that’s what we have.”
The Burses credit their faith with helping their marriage stay strong for 53 years.
“After we had been married maybe three years, we both gave our lives to the Lord and joined the church. That’s the glue right there, having Christ in your life. You’re still going to have differences, but you’ve got something to keep you grounded,” said Burse.
In 1974, Burse purchased the family home from his father after the passing of his mother. The Burses remained there for 18 years.
They were blessed with three children in quick succession, two boys and a girl. Their oldest son, Leonard III, works for CSX where he has been an engineer for almost 23 years.
Their second son, Carlton, recently retired from the United States Army as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. Carlton and his wife have two daughters, both in the Navy.
The Burse’s daughter, Andrea, is a teacher at Center Elementary and has a son and a daughter.
During the children’s early years, Eva volunteered regularly at the elementary school.
“The principal, Randy Jones, said I had been spending so much time out there, didn’t I want a job?” she laughs.
She did take a job there as a para professional and stayed for 20 years before her retirement.
“This was the time when you loved on the children,” Mrs. Burse said. “I don’t care how dirty they were, you always loved them. They would say, ‘Oh, my goodness. Mrs. Burse is big enough to have four children in her lap.’ And I’d say, ‘If the fifth can get up, I’ll take you too.’” The Burses made sure to spend quality time with the children growing up. He coached pee wee football at Williams Heights Elementary School, while she coached pee wee cheerleading. They played ball in the yard and had foot races, benefits of being young parents.
Though they did not take a traditional honeymoon, the Burses have traveled extensively both nationally and internationally over the years.
“My husband made sure we always took the children on a vacation,” said Mrs. Burse. “It may be Disney World, Sea World, Six Flags, The Ice Capades, whatever.
“When my daughter and her husband were in England, we went to England, when they went to Okinawa and my grandson was born, we went to Okinawa,” said Burse.
They also made sure to keep their marriage nurtured. Burse sent his wife flowers frequently, with a note saying “Just because.”
She made him dinner every night. “He worked a lot,” said Mrs. Burse. “I would have what he wanted for dinner and he would say, ‘How did you know that’s what I wanted?’ That’s just how connected we are.”
Burse began building their present home in 1990 and the couple moved in in January of 1991.
“My father was a contractor,” he said. “All of his sons picked it up. I retired from the railroad, but by trade I’m a carpenter.”
Burse is responsible for the beautiful golden woodwork, the custom kitchen cabinets, and discreet pocket doors among other special touches.
“I’m pretty good with the trim work and all that stuff, but she has a gift for interior decorating,” he humbly said. “She compliments me. I don’t compliment her, she compliments me.”
The Burses were recently put to the test when Eva was suddenly struck with a health emergency.
Three weeks after a routine surgery on July 14, 2022, she began to feel shortness of breath which rapidly progressed until she could not breath. She was airlifted August 6 to HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville where she underwent emergency surgery. It was discovered her lungs were filled with blood clots.
“When they went to remove the blood clots, things went south,” said Burse. “She started bleeding out. She had to have 34 units of blood. Thank God we were at a trauma center.”
Mrs. Burse remained in the ICU for 19 days and in the hospital for a total of 31 days. She was transferred September 7 to Kindred Hospital of North Florida for physical therapy and wound care. She was gone from Waycross for 89 days.
“I was there for 88 days,” said Burse. “The only reason I wasn’t there one day was because of a hurricane (Ian). They wouldn’t let you come into the hospital.”
“Every time I opened my eyes I asked, “Where’s my husband?” recalls Mrs. Burse. “I wanted my husband. I raised so much sand one night, they called him several times throughout the night. I just wanted to talk to him.”
“You couldn’t stay in the hospital at Kindred,” Burse said. “It had been 31 days since I had slept in a bed. I had been sleeping in one of those hard recliners in the ICU waiting room. I did what I had to do.”
“That’s what you call love,” responded Mrs. Burse.
When asked what advice they would give couples about maintaining a strong marriage, she said, “You’ve got to love each other and your mate needs to become your best friend. You’ve got to be able to talk things out and take one day at a time.”
Burse concurred. “I keep saying, it’s a partnership,” he said. “Nobody has all the answers, nobody can always have their way. She has been very supportive in everything I do, but she can be my critic, too, and I like that.
“When people say they’ve never had an argument, you need to get away from them because they’re telling a lie. But, I can say it’s been wonderful.”
