Shady Burdette
Shady was born October 6, 1924 in Wilder, VA, to Loomis Abradis Burdette and Pearly Simerly Burdette. He passed away on September 18, 2020 in Shoreline, Washington. Shady’s family were coal miners and moved several times to “follow the coal.” Shady finished his schooling in Killarney, West Virginia, after which time he worked a variety of jobs to help support his family.
Shady entered the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 18. He was first stationed at Paris Island, South Carolina and then transferred to Camp Pendleton, CA for training to go overseas (Pacific theatre) during World War II. He described the move as “lucky he did,” because that is where he met his wife, Lois Ferguson, at a soda shop in town, who he described as “the prettiest little thing in the shop.”
Shady and Lois were married in Taloga, Oklahoma on August 4, 1946. They started life together in Virginia, in a small town near Roanoke. They later moved to California where Shady took a job stacking tin cans at Continental Can Company. Shady recalled the company slogan: “Success comes in cans. Failure comes in cant’s.” That company slogan defined how Shady approached life.
Shady was then called to pastoral ministry. He was ordained in 1952, and pastored churches in Riverside, Santa Ana, Lindsay and Coachella. He served the Coachella church from 1962 to 1975 and again from 1979 until his retirement.
Shady loved his family, serving the Lord, pastoring his flock and preaching the gospel, which he continued to do with everyone he met, even after he retired from ministry and moved to Seattle, WA to live closer to his daughter, Gaynelle and her family.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 71 years, Lois and his daughter, Gaynelle, and is survived by his son, Ronnie Burdette, daughter, Paula Burdette, 5 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
