Hannah Jean Burrows

Hannah Jean Burrows, 99, of Beaufort, North Carolina, passed away on Monday, June 17, 2024, at Oakwood Senior Living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A funeral service to honor Jean’s life will be held at 7 p.m., Monday, July 1st at Munden Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Rick Smith. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. Her graveside service will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 2nd at Carteret Memorial Gardens. 

Jean was born on July 2, 1924, in Middlesex, North Carolina to the late Jesse Montford Davis and E. J. Nobles. She had two sisters, Juanita Nobles Davis and Clara Jay Davis Massey (Wilbur K. Massey) and was married to Robert “Bob” Burrows for fifty years.

Jean leaves her two daughters, Linda Burrows Helms and Karen Burrows Kinney (Jack Kinney); grandchildren, Nathan Helms (Alicia Alexander Helms), Sarah Helms Davis (Brian Davis) and Zachary Davis Helms (Hope Hosek Helms); and great-grandchildren, Raleigh Alexander Helms, Holston Robert Helms, Hazel Birdie Helms, Lilah Elizabeth Helms, and Eliza June Helms. She also leaves her niece, Kathryn Massey Curran and family. 

Jean lived in Middlesex until graduating high school in 1941. She graduated from Campbell College in 1943 and gained employment with People’s Bank in Rocky Mount, NC. She and two friends decided to learn to fly and signed up for lessons at the local airport. Jean was fortunate enough to get Bob Burrows as her instructor. He had just gotten out of the Army Air Corps where he had also instructed. She began lessons in February, they wasted no time falling in love, and were married on October 28 of that year. 

Bob was offered a job running a small airport in Morehead City where he taught and gave flight tests. They had two daughters and relocated to Beaufort to oversee the airport there. They had an airplane their entire married lives and continued flying together until Bob died in 1995. They had a close and adventurous life, flying and driving all over the country. They especially enjoyed fly-ins and attended the EAA OshKosh Fly-in almost every year. After Bob’s death, she continued going to Petticoat Pilots fly-ins for years. 

Jean liked to walk on the beach, collect shells, and make shell lamps for people. For most of her working career she was the receptionist/bookkeeper for the local dentist, Dr. Rudder. After his retirement, she particularly enjoyed working at a boardwalk bookshop for a few years. 

Jean was very involved in the First Baptist Church of Beaufort for the entire time she lived there. She had many friends both at home and all over the country. She continued to live in her home in Beaufort until 2019 when she went to live with her daughter in Knoxville. 

Jean was a fiercely independent and fun person who truly loved and cared for her family and friends. She was famous for chocolate birthday cakes and fried chicken, shell collecting, and laughing. She will be buried on her one-hundredth birthday, having blessed so many people during that time with her love, friendship, humor, and Christian example of a life well lived.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to First Baptist Church of Beaufort, 403 Ann Street, Beaufort, N.C. 28516, or The Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Rd. # 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.