Joyce Burrage

Norma Joyce White Burrage passed away peacefully on March 16, 2024 at the SAAD Hospice Retreat in Mobile, Alabama. She was born on June 3, 1939 in Chilton, Clarke County, Alabama to William Norman White and Marty Louise Pugh.

She is survived by her children, Brett Edward Burrage and Vallee Burrage Connor (David); brother, William Don White (Nell); grandchildren, Braxton Hicks and Braden Hicks; nephews, James Burrage (Gina) and Scott White (Susan); great nephew, Will White, and great niece, Cortney White.

She was preceded in death by husband, Henry Edward Burrage, her father, William Norman White, and her mother, Marty Louise Pugh.

A lifelong resident of Clarke County, Alabama, she graduated from Clarke County High School in 1957, going on to graduate from Judson College in Marion, Alabama in 1961.

Joyce spent 32 wonderful years at Clarke County High School, teaching mostly English, Literature, and Bible. Whereas her students may have dreaded the beginning of every school year, she looked forward to it, anxious to see the light come on when they understood what she so enjoyed teaching them.

Soon after her retirement, thanks to an invitation from Editor Jim Cox, she began writing a series of articles called, “Through the Past” for the Clarke County Democrat. For over two decades, she explored the rich history of Clarke County, its people, and other subjects that caught her attention, she published three books during her lifetime including, “The Mitcham War,’ coauthored by James A. Cox and Harvey H. Jackson, III; “Only the Rose Remains,” a compilation of a few of her newspaper articles, and “Clarke County,” a pictorial history published as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.

Visitation will be held at O’Bryant Chapel Funeral Home on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 from 1:00 pm until the 2:00 pm service time with Rev. Don White officiating. Burial will follow at Smith Cemetery in Chilton.

Arrangements by O’Bryant Chapel Funeral Home