Joan "Mary" Burkett, formerly of Osceola, sadly passed away June 24, 2017 at Knightsbridge Lodge, Cheltenham, England.

Mary was born January 13, 1926 in Smethwick, Birmingham, England to Albert and Hilda Smith and raised & schooled in Tewkesbury, England. She met her first husband, Howard L. Strombeck, while she was working at the Post Office in Tewkesbury, he was based at Ashchurch Army Camp during World War II serving with the American Armed Forces. They married at Tewkesbury Abbey in 1945 and Mary joined him in Mishawaka, Indiana in 1946 after travelling by ship, Argentina, from England to New York as a GI bride. They had two children and returned to England in 1952 where she owned a China Shop and Bed & Breakfast in Tewkesbury.

In 1958 Mary and the children returned to Mishawaka and she later was divorced. In 1960 she married Leo E. "Bud" Burkett and they lived in Osceola. She worked as the office administrator for Dexter Axle Division in Elkhart and retired in 1988 after 27 years'' service. Bud passed away in 2003 and Mary returned to Tewkesbury in 2005 to live with her daughter.

She leaves behind her son, Nicholas Strombeck and his wife Barbara of Pueblo, Colorado; her daughter, Wendy Hartell and her husband David of Tewkesbury, England; grandchildren, Amanda Dudfield and her partner John Wheeler of Tewkesbury; Brett Hartell and his wife Corrie of Tewkesbury and Clare Hartell of Tewkesbury; great-grandchildren, Lexi Wheeler, Theo Hartell and Cody Ellison.

Graveside services 10:00 Saturday, July 15, 2017 in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 10776 McKinley Hwy, where she will be laid to rest beside her husband. Arrangements through Chapel Hill Funeral Home.

Please share a remembrance of Mary or to offer condolences to her family through this online guestbook.

"I am at peace, my soul''s at rest;
There is no need for tears.
For with your love we were so blessed,
For all those many years."