Julia Burchstead

REIDVILLE -- Julia Reid Burchstead, beloved mother, grandmother and teacher, died peacefully July 7, 2007, in the house in which she was born 96 years ago. The wife of the late Harry B. Burchstead Sr., she is survived by her five children, who were with her in her final hours. Mrs. Burchstead was born July 3, 1911, the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Palmer Reid and Leila Teasley Reid. She was the granddaughter of the Rev. Robert H. Reid, pastor of Nazareth Presbyterian Church and the founder of the Reidville Male Academy and the Reidville Female College. Her father served as director of the schools and also organized and re-established Presbyterian churches that had been closed during the Civil War. A 1932 graduate of Queens College, Mrs. Burchstead was a teacher at Aiken High School when she met her husband, a native of Lexington, Mass., who had been mobilized with the Massachusetts National Guard at the start of World War II. Mrs. Burchstead returned to the family home in Reidville and resumed her teaching career while her husband served in Vietnam. She taught at several Spartanburg District 5 schools, including Startex Elementary and Florence Chapel. Survivors include her children, Harry B. Burchstead of Sumter, S.C., Anne B. Howard of Lexington, S.C., Palmer Reid Burchstead of Reidville, Karin B. Kapsidelis of Richmond, Va., and John H. Burchstead of Gaffney, S.C.; daughters-in-law Barbara S. Burchstead and Jo Anne H. Burchstead and sons-in-law Edward Howard and Thomas Kapsidelis; and her six grandchildren, Michael, Matthew and Sarah Burchstead, Ted Howard, and Katherine and Alex Kapsidelis. She is also survived by her niece Lynda Reid Horton and nephew Robert H. Reid. Her brothers, Robert and B.P. Reid, preceded her in death. The family gratefully acknowledges the loving care she received from Lisa Willis and Barbara Wyatt. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Nazareth Presbyterian Church, with visitation from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at The Wood Mortuary in Greer. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Nazareth Presbyterian Church, 680 Nazareth Church Road, Moore, S.C., 29369 or the Reidville Historical Society, P.O. Box 264, Reidville, S.C. 29375.

Julia Burchstead

July 3, 1911 - July 7, 2007