Amy Lee (Burgess) Palmer

Amy Lee (Burgess) Palmer, age 77 and a resident of Konawa, Oklahoma passed away at her home on Friday, December 12, 2014. Funeral services are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at Spring Baptist Church in Sasakwa, Oklahoma under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa.  Rev. Matthew Cobb will officiate and burial will follow at Vamoosa Cemetery.  Pallbearers are Tony Palmer, Tommy Jesse, Johnny Wood, Daniel Burgess, Bo Jesse, and Sammy Wheeler.  Honorary Pallbearers are Dale Jesse, Jonathan Brown, Richard Palmer, Russell Bemo, Vic Burgess, Avery Burgess, Ross Burgess, and Chabon Burgess. Amy was born on March 8, 1937 in Ada, Oklahoma to Aby Burgess and Adeline B. (Robison) Burgess at the old Brecco Hospital.  She attended Culley Grade School, Konawa High School, and received her Bachelor of Arts from East Central University in Ada.  She worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Navajo Reservation at Chinle, Arizona and Tohatchi, New Mexico from 1961 until 1970.  She worked for the Department of Institutions Social and Rehabilitation Services at Girls Town in 1974 as a Social Worker until early 1977.  In 1977, she returned to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Ft. Sill Indian School at Lawton, Oklahoma until the school closed in 1980.  Amy then became the Indian Education Coordinator for Ardmore High School.  In late 1984, she returned to work as a Child Welfare Caseworker for the Department of Human Services in Ada for Carter and Pontotoc Counties and retired in November, 1999. After retirement, she returned to work for the Seminole Nation for six years as Family Services Director and as an Indian Child Welfare caseworker.  She served as church treasurer from 1992 until 2012 and as trustee for Spring Baptist Church as well as a Resolution Committee member for the Muscogee-Seminole-Wichita Baptist Association.  Amy also served on the Finance Committee and the Personnel Board for the Seminole Nation. She is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Pama Palmer of Oklahoma City; one daughter, Priscilla (Palmer) Johnson of Beggs, Oklahoma; two sisters, Mattie Keys of Sasakwa, Oklahoma and Mary Brown of Wewoka, Oklahoma; three grandchildren, Adam Palmer and wife, Jessi of Chicago, Illinois, Amanda (Johnson) Shaffer and husband, Dwight of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and Alex Palmer of Oklahoma City; one great granddaughter, Aubrey Shaffer; nine nephews, Richard Palmer, Russell Bemo, Dale Jesse, Vic Burgess, Avery Burgess, Ross Burgess, Chabon Burgess, Jonathan Brown, and Larry Jesse; ten nieces, Lisa Cobb, Deanna Jesse, Linda Jesse, Denise Johnson, Marie Jesse, Sally Frazier, Bernice Campbell, Debra Lozier, Lori Hobson, and Betty Brooks. She was preceded in death by her parents, Aby and Adeline (Robison) Burgess; four brothers, Rev. George Jesse, Benjamin Jesse, Timmie Jesse, and Abe Burgess; six sisters, Eliza (Jesse) Foster, Della (Jesse) Bemo, Juanita Burgess, Ruth (Burgess) Wood, Eliza (Burgess) Jesse, and Edna (Burgess) Culley; eight nephews, Brownie Brown, Danny Burgess, Alexander “Aggie” Jesse, Joe Louis Culley, Herbie Bemo, Raymond Culley, David “Butch” Jesse, and Sonny Harjo; and four nieces, Josephine (Harjo) Wood, Pauline (Harjo) Byford, Rosa Lee (Culley) West , and Cheryl (Foster) Sisco. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Spring Baptist Church Building Fund. Funeral Information: December 16, 2014, 10:00 AM Spring Baptist Church of Sasakwa, OK under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home of Konawa located at 217 N. Broadway, Konawa, OK 74849