Stanley Engbarth Burkley

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, January 6, 2015

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Oct. 5, 1926 – Jan. 5, 2015

NATCHEZ — Services for Stanley Engbarth Burkley, 88, of Natchez, who died Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, surrounded by his family, of complications from Parkinson’s disease, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at New Covenant Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Sean Morris officiating.

Burial will follow at the Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Mr. Burkley was born Oct. 5, 1926, in New Orleans, the son of Stanley Melton Burkley and Katherine Engbarth Burkley.

He graduated from Natchez public schools and attended Washington and Lee University. He was also a graduate of Soule Business College in New Orleans with a degree in business and a graduate of Mississippi State University with a degree in accounting.

He began his career with Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company in the office, but felt confined by a desk, so he quit. He put together a logging crew and went to work cutting timber. He moved from that cutting timber to managing timber land for Mason Stricker. That evolved into buying plantations, cutting the timber, sending it to his own sawmill and clearing them with his own dozers for farming. He had a lifelong interest in land improvement and timber management.

Among his business interests were Ivanhoe Associates, McGehee-Burkley Lumber Company, I and B Plantation, Anna Gin Company, Ashland Plantation and Burkley Farms.

Mr. Burkley loved telling stories about his childhood, dogs, adventures and trips. He was fond of recalling that he was sworn in to three branches of the military in one day. An avid hunter, fisherman, pilot, boatman and cattleman, he loved the outdoors and maintained a camp on Rodney Lake for years before building a hunting lodge on Gilliam Chute.

He was preceded in death by his parents; twin siblings, Joseph Emile “Jack” Burkley and Margaret Jeanette “Maggie” Burkley Marshall; his first wife, Ruth Marie Miller Burkley; and his second wife, Jean Despujols Burkley.

Survivors include his wife of 31 years, Terry Tisdale Burkley; two sons, Stanley Melton Burkley and wife, Judy, and Louis Miller Burkley and wife, Teressa, all of Natchez; four daughters, Mattie Ruth Burkley Gasquet McGehee and husband, Ross, of Natchez, Claire Sherlock Burkley of New Orleans, Camille Despujols Burkley-Wilson and husband, Hacker, of Baton Rouge and Simone Burkley Chatelain and husband, Michael, of Katy, Texas; six grandsons, Brian Miller Burkley and wife, Natalie, of Jackson, Michael Christian Burkley and wife, Kimberly, and Francis James Daniel Gasquet, all of Natchez, Louis Garret Burkley and wife, Meghan, of Atlanta, Jacob Thomas “Jake” Bryant of Augusta, Ga., and Ryan Burkley Chatelain of Katy; four granddaughters, Hanna Burkley Provance and husband, Ryan, and Katelan Hope Burkley Barlow and husband, Ryan, all of Jackson, Sophie Estelle Gasquet of Natchez and Ashlyn Nicole Chatelain of Katy; eight great-grandchildren; and a number of nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers will be Brian Burkley, Garret Burkley, Michael Burkley, Rodney Burkley, Daniel Gasquet, Mike Chatelain, Ross McGehee and Hacker Wilson.

A reception will be after the services at the home of Michael C. Burkley, 10 Audubon Place, in Natchez.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Sophie Gasquet Heart Fund, c/o Camille Burkley, 641 Wordsworth Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70810 or to a charity of choice.

Online condolences may be sent to lairdfh.com.