Barbara Moss Boze Bursey

Mrs. Barbara Jean Moss Boze Bursey who left her body November 29, 2012. She died at home, in the mountains of North Georgia, surrounded by the love of four generations of children. Bobbie, as she was called by everyone - including her children, embodied love and tolerance, never raised her voice in anger, had no attachment to material goods, and was always more concerned about the happiness of others than her own. Her's was a life well lived that served as a model to her children.

She was born in Atlanta on January 13, 1924 to Hugh Moss and Lucy Cowan. Hugh died in an accident related to his auto racing hobby when Bobbie was an infant. Lucy soon married Joseph Boze, who Bobbie always called “Father”. Bobbie was sent to Young Harris for high school, a Methodist boarding school in the Georgia mountains (which later became Young Harris College), where she developed a love for that part of the world. She later attended and graduated from Oglethorpe College in Atlanta, where she met and fell in love with a medical school student, Don Bursey. Lucy and Joe provided a comfortable life style for their only daughter, and Bobbie never saw the inside of a kitchen until she married.She went from "not knowing how to boil water", as Don was fond of saying, to the same excellent caliber cook as her husband and their kitchen was the heart of their home. They loved to dance, sing, travel, fish, do anything adventurous. Helping their fellow man was paramount in both their lives and woven into the very fabric of day to day living. There isn't a family that exists that doesn't have trouble but their basic goodness always shone through. Don and Bobbie's 61 years life together is a wonderful tale of global travel and adventure, told often enough that they would finish each others sentences. Don was in dental school at the University of Tennessee when they got married September 16th,1944. After he graduated, he started a dental practice in Helena Arkansas, where their son Brett was born in 1948. Don was called for duty in the Navy during the Korean War and remained on active duty for 28 years. Don's passing in 2005 left a hole in Bobbie's life that was never filled.

Bobbie's life as a Navy wife found Don at sea when their daughters Donna and Renee were born in Atlanta in 1950 and 1952. Alisa, their youngest child, was born in 1957 in Taiwan, where Don was stationed on special duty as the dentist for Chiang Kai-shek, the ruler of the island nation. Bobbie became friends with Madame Chiang Kai-shek and was a frequent guest at the presidential mansion. Their friendship included a love of painting and Madame Chiang Kai-shek taught Bobbie how to do rice paper paintings, a unique style quite different than her watercolor and oil paintings. Upon retirement from the Navy in 1972, they settled in the Georgia mountains that Bobbie loved and started a dental practice in Young Harris. Bobbie kept the books for the office, where they often traded fillings and extractions for collards, green beans and an occasional jar of moonshine. All three of their daughters worked with them. Their dog Pete was there daily to greet patients and soothe those that were in need. Bobbie kept them busy with coffee, tea, milk,cookies and brownies...when in doubt, feed them! When they retired from the Young Harris dental practice in 1984, they hit the road. They would end up in Mexico or Alaska if they were driving their camper, or Greece or Puerto Rico if they were flying “space available” on military transports. Bobbie's mobile life style led her to be prepared for all contingencies and calm in the face of adversity. Her kids started the "Benevolent Association of Migrant Eaters", as the family was always on the move and mother packed a lunch to check the mail.

Bobbie's loving embrace and positive attitude about life lives on in her children, and their children, and their children's children. She will be greatly missed, but always present in their lives. She remains a constant presence to her grand children Joey,Kristy McFalls, Blake Shook, Cynthia Shook Dyer,Brian Wilson, Ashli Parker and great grandchildren Jimmy, Dakota and Kayla Shook,Corbin Williams, Braden McFalls, Patrick, Jaylyn, Issac, Eli and Claire Milam, Zoey Wilson, Olivia Davenport, Amelia Parker-Benedict and Emma Dyer. Bobbie was preceded in death by her daughter Donna Shook in 2003, Brooke Wilson Milam, her oldest granddaughter, killed in an auto accident in 2004 and her husband, Don, in 2005.

A celebration of Bobbie's life is scheduled for December 8th at Mrs. Bursey's home, 447 Bursey Rd., Hiawassee, at 4 PM. To obtain directions to the house, you may call 706-896-2576. All her friends are invited to come and tell a story about how she brightened their lives. Memorials to Bobbie can be made by treating others with the tolerance and respect she gave to everyone.

Arrangements entrusted to the care of Cochran Funeral Home of Hiawassee.