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Visitation:
Pending
Service:
Funeral arrangements are pending with
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home, Lincoln.
Funeral home:
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader, Lincoln
Obituary
Gene Burwell died peacefully on
November 24, 2020 at Lake Ozark Regional Hospital
surrounded by his wife Karen and family. He was 85.
Gene married Karen Benters on September 27, 1966.
They welcomed Gene’s daughters Tami and Toni and
later expanded their family with Eric and Curt. In
Karen, he met his soul mate and lifelong partner.
Theirs was a marriage built on mutual respect and
support, and it served as an inspiration for
everyone fortunate enough to witness the 54-year
partnership. They have attended Zion Lutheran Church
since they made Lincoln their home.
Gene was born in Beason, Illinois and was the oldest
child of Kenneth and Iona Burwell. He graduated from
Beason High School in 1953 and remained close with
his schoolmates throughout his life. After service
in the United States Army, he started his career as
a carpenter and tradesman in Beason and Lincoln.
Rainy days freed him to a second job
as a gasoline station attendant at a two-bay service
station in Lincoln. When the owner retired, he was
able to buy the station with a modest loan from his
Uncle and Aunt, Jim and Irma Turpin, and he
cultivated a loyal customer base in Lincoln and
Logan County.
In 1958, he incorporated Burwell Oil
Service and began serving farm and commercial
customers and continued running the service station.
He combined this business with his “passion”
business, the boat business, and he operated a boat
store on Keokuk Street until he decided to focus
solely on the gasoline business in 1981.
Over the next 30 years, Gene went on
to build the business into 21 GB Oil convenience
stores, a truck stop, the Lincoln Steak ‘n Shake,
and numerous other ancillary businesses before its
sale in 2002. He was also active in real estate
development, and he was especially proud of efforts
to develop Lincoln’s West Side with numerous retail
businesses, hotels, Sysco Food Systems and Fed Ex.
He was a proud, occasionally
cantankerous, distributor for Phillips Petroleum for
over 40 years, a partnership that helped his
business but also introduced him to dozens of
friends and took him and Karen on many memorable
trips.
Gene took a special pride in
supporting community organizations in Lincoln and
Logan County during his years in business. He
proudly served on the Board of Directors for State
Bank of Lincoln 1987-1996 and on the Board of the
Illinois Petroleum Markets Association 1996-2002.
Gene’s other passion was anything involving an
internal combustion engine. He enjoyed cars, boats,
airplanes and any other thing that was built for
speed. He collected various cars and boats over the
years, and many of his happiest moments were spent
with friends and family attending NASCAR races, boat
races, and auto shows.
He and Karen built their dream house
in Four Seasons, Missouri in 1997. His passion and
skill for design was evident in all the details,
especially a descending, step-less walkway to the
water. He joked he only needed an architect “to
stamp the papers for the permit.” He was correct. He
designed the house to carry him comfortably into his
advanced age surrounded by his family and friends.
On that, as with nearly every other thing he
touched, he found great success. |
Over the past 23 years there, he and
Karen enjoyed the company of children,
grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends.
Thousands of fish were caught and released,
thousands of gallons of gas were burned in boats and
Sea-Doos and countless memories created of splashing
water and laughing children.
He is survived by his wife Karen.
Daughters Tami (Brian) Klink of Wales, WI; Toni
Burwell (Greg Purviance) of East Peoria, IL ; Sons
Eric (Karin) Burwell of Bloomington, IL and Curt
(Christine) Burwell of New York, NY, fourteen
grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and
numerous nieces and nephews with whom he shared many
holidays and memorable events through the years. He
was predeceased by his parents, Iona and Kenneth,
his sister Elaine Butler, and his nephew Kevin
Lessen.
He could tell a story like no other, and tell them
he did. A tip of the cowboy hat, a paused delivery
and sometimes a little liberty with the facts, he
would usually leave his listeners in uproarious
laughter. He loved to read and to share what he read
with his friends. He collected thousands of friends
over his 85 years, and he leaves all of them with
many fond memories. Those memories will need to
replace his annual birthday phone calls from now on.
Gene never met a stranger, and he never found
himself at a loss for words in a conversation. He
was a focused listener with an amazing memory. He
was an extrovert extraordinaire: charming, witty,
and congenial. Those that know him best knew all
these qualities were genuine and authentic; that he
deeply cared about his friends and always made time
for conversation.
He was especially proud of the team
he assembled and managed at Burwell Oil Service, and
he took pride in mentoring many younger men and
women in their careers, just as many influential
people had done for him. As a boss, employees,
including his sons, found him demanding and intense
but always honest and fair.
His greatest legacy was his family,
and he earned the respect, love and admiration of
his wife, children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
His was an extraordinary life, and the confidence,
courage and conviction with which he lived it has
and will continue to inspire everyone he touched.
Funeral arrangements are pending with
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home, Lincoln.
The family requests memorials be sent to Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln to assist
individuals and families affected by the COIVID 19
pandemic.
Please send to:
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital
Attn: Dolan Dalpoas, CEO
200 Stahlhut Drive
Lincoln, IL 62656
Click here to send a note of condolence to the family of Gene
Burwell
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