TUPLEO, MISSISSIPPI – Gloria Ann (Sandifer) Benefield Burrow
Ann Burrow of Myrtle, Mississippi, departed this mortal realm after battling chronic illness on Sunday, March 10, 2019 at the age of 73. We know that Grammy is glad to finally be pain and frustration-free, reunited with Chief. We are further certain that they are golfing, dancing and otherwise celebrating with abundant fanfare as they are reunited after being apart almost 18 years.
Troy Lee Sandifer, Jr. and Mattie Lee (Whitworth) Sandifer welcomed Gloria Ann to their lives in the summer of 1945. She grew to be a very accomplished pianist and vocalist and participated in many school and community musical theater productions. She graduated from Clarksdale (MS) High School, where she was the First-Runner Up in the Miss Clarksdale Pageant. Subsequently attended Mississippi College, where she was a campus beauty.
Early in her married life, Ann was a respiratory technician at Hinds General Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. She and her husband Jim lived throughout the Southeast during their 36 years of marriage, and enjoyed extensive travels around the globe. Far more than beauty and charm comprised this amazing dynamo! Ann was an avid reader and life-long learner, with a huge heart and quick wit. She was a Pinterest-worthy baker and artisan decades before the internet was conceived, and undeniably the very-best-ever Homeroom Mom at Lake Park Elementary School. She loved her weekly golf group and her aerobics classes. Her lawn and gardens deserved their own show on HGTV, and her home was always open and ready for lucky guests. She was a tireless gallery cheerleader for hundreds of her daughter’s golf tournaments. Upon the passing of her husband, she pursued and received her CNA certification with gumption, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
. She leaves behind a loving family legacy, including one daughter, April Conrad (Will) of Florence, Alabama, grandchildren Anna and William, one step-daughter, Olivia Davis (Ray) of Booneville, Mississippi, grandchildren Jake and John Daniel, and her two fiercely-loved schnauzers.
Several loved ones went before her to blaze a trail for her homegoing, including her aforementioned parents, beloved aunt Evelyn Smyly, husband Jimmy Carlton Benefield and husband William Owen Burrow.
The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the nurses and doctors of 5 South at NMMC in Tupelo and also the incredibly loving and compassionate Hospice staff at NMMC. Special thanks to her sweet angelic sister-in-law, Neloise Vickroy, who tended to Ann (and her dogs) like the precious treasure she was.
A service celebrating Mrs. Burrow’s life will be held on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 12 noon at Grace Episcopal Church, 103 Darby Drive, Sheffield, Alabama 35660.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Grace Episcopal Youth Program or the American Cancer Society.