The Life of Dr. Edward Gilbert Burleigh Jr.
Dr. Edward Gilbert Burleigh, Jr., 94, went to be with his Lord June 3, 2013, with his family by his side.
He was born August 24, 1918 in Opelousas, Louisiana to Edward Gilbert Burleigh, Sr. and Jenny Mae Porter Burleigh.
Ed graduated from LSU in 1939 with a degree in Chemistry and worked for the US Food and Drug Administration in New Orleans as a Government Inspector of canneries and was also in cotton fiber research until he entered military service in 1941. He took flight training at Turner Field in Albany, Georgia and was assigned as an aerial navigator in the 316th Troop Carrier Group at Del Valle Army Air Corps base in Austin, Texas. From there he led his group across the Caribbean and the South Atlantic to the west coast of Africa and up the Nile Valley to Egypt. There they flew in support of the British Eighth Army over the Egyptian/Libyan desert until the surrender of the Afrika Korps in Tunisia in May, 1943.
At the end of the African campaign he participated in combat Paratroop operations inSicily (Gela beachhead), Italy (Salerno, Anzio), France (Normandy), Holland (Nijmegan), and Germany (Rhine crossing) with the 45th squadron.
After his discharge at the end of the war he attended LSU Medical School, receiving his MD degree in 1952. He elected to take his internship in Duluth, Minnesota, where he met his future wife. He practiced General Medicine at the East Range Clinic in Eveleth, Minnesota for three years before moving his growing family to Minneapolis in January of 1957 for a two year Residency in Anesthesiology.
Upon completion of the two years, the family moved to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1959 where he became the first Anesthesiologist to locate in this area, establishing the Anesthesia group of Burleigh, Prejean, Dupliex and Rees. He retired from practice in December of 1987.
He is survived by Florence, his beloved wife of 59 years, and four daughters, Susan Burleigh Shaw (Raymond), of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Rev. Elaine Burleigh of Many, Louisiana, Ann Burleigh Prejean of Lafayette, and Carolyn Burleigh Smith (Robert), of Tupelo, Mississippi. He also leaves behind four grandchildren, Dr. Matthew Edward Smith (Stephanie), of Lexington, Kentucky, Sarah Marie Smith, currently of Newport, Rhode Island, Charlotte Marie Prejean, of New Orleans, and Brian Joseph Prejean of Dallas, Texas.
Visitation with the family will be held Friday morning, June 7 at 10 AM at
Delhomme Funeral Home, Bertrand Drive in Lafayette, followed by a memorial
service at First United Methodist Church of Lafayette at 2 PM. internment of the
ashes will take place during a private family service at a later date.
The family wishes to express their heartfelt thanks to the doctors and nurses of
St. Joseph Hospice and to Dr. Burleigh''s dedicated caregivers, Mrs. Betty Maiveaux,
Mrs. Lenora Isaac, and Mr. Elmo Breaux. Their compassion and loving
service have been a great comfort during this difficult time.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in Ed''s memory to First United Methodist Church, PO Box 2039, Lafayette, LA 70502, St. Joseph Hospice, 1003 S. Hugh Wallis Road, Suite F2, Lafayette, LA. 70508, or The Salvation Army, P0 Box 3504, Lafayette, LA 70502-3504.
Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, LA
