Rosalee Ann (Pryor) Burchell

Rosalee Ann (Pryor) Burchell, 82 of Rich Hill, Mo., passed away Tuesday, July 11, 2022, at Barone’s Care Center, in Nevada, Mo., from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She was born April 30, 1940, in Metz, Mo., to Hugh Clifton “Tippy” Pryor and Leta Kreal (Winterbottom) Pryor.

Rosalee was born and raised in the Metz, Mo., community. She grew up on a farm west of Metz and enjoyed helping her father on the farm and learning how to cook and sew from her mentor, Grandma Minnie. She was a lifelong member of the Metz United Methodist Church where she spent many years playing the piano and leading Sunday School classes. She attended and graduated from Metz High School. Immediately following high school, she married her high school sweetheart, Walter Lewis Burchell, also of Metz.

After their first few years of marriage, the couple bought a farm West of Rich Hill where they lived there together for 55+ years and raised 3 children. In addition to running the family household and working on the farm, Rosalee spent most of her working life in two careers. The first was as a cook in the Rich Hill school system, where she started as a cook in the Elementary School, then became head cook at the High School, and finished out her 27 years of cooking as the Head Cook for both Elementary and High School. Even after being retired for several years, many of her former school “clients” fondly remember the scrumptious cinnamon rolls she made.

The next phase of her working career, and her favorite, was babysitting local children from the community. Over the span of 20+ years, she baby sat children in her home from birth through them starting school, resulting in many days of wonderful memories and being called Grandma, Grandma Rosie, and Rosie by a host of children and families

In addition to her husband of 64 years, Walter Burchell of Rich Hill, Mo., she is also survived by her three children and their spouses: Debbie (Burchell) and Steve Poulter of Rich Hill, Rick Burchell and Will Holley of Eatonton, Ga., and Randy and Tish Burchell of Rich Hill. She is also survived by four grandchildren: Brian and Mika Keiser of Kansas City, Mo., Josh and Sara Keiser of Kansas City, Mo., Courtney (Burchell) and Camden Briggs of Clinton, Mo., and Amanda (Burchell) Jennings of Rich Hill, Mo. She is also survived by nine great-grandchildren with number 10 on the way. She was preceded in death by her parents, Tippy and Leta Pryor.

Services for Rosalee will be conducted by and held at the Ferry Funeral Home of Nevada, Mo. Visitation will be held Thursday, July 14, from 6 to 8 p.m., with funeral services on Friday, July 15, at 10 a.m., with Pastor Barrett Case officiating. Interment will follow in Balltown Cemetery, Horton, Mo. To ensure the health and safety of both the family and the attendees, the family requests attendees follow CDC Covid guidelines to ensure everyone’s continued good health.

For anyone wishing to make a memorial donation in Rosalee’s name, the family is suggesting two options that were important to Rosalee. The first is the Metz United Methodist Church where Rosalee was a lifetime member, or to the facility that took special care of her during her last three years of life – Barone’s Care Center of Nevada, Mo.

View obituary and send condolences online at www.ferryfuneralhome.com.