Svacha, Ethel Mae GW #153

Ethel Mae was born on 29 October 1906 in Michigan to Joseph and Clara (Weeks) Svacha. The family was living in Greenfield, Wayne County, Michigan in 1910 then moved to Detroit by 1920. In the 1926 Cleveland city directory Ethel Mae is listed as a missionary for the “Gospel Wkrs Soc” residing at 716 Jefferson Avenue. Ethel did not stay with the Gospel Workers for long, though. She appears in the 1930 city directory for Canton, Ohio. In the 1940 census she is living alone in Detroit, Michigan and reports her residence for 1935 as Cleveland. In 1940 her occupation is Proofreader at an advertising agency. She also reports three years of college for her education. Two years later she married Ernest Lloyd Burges on 29 October 1942 at St John’s Episcopal Church in Michigan. They had two daughters together. Sadly, Ernest died only 14 years later, in 1956. It appears Ethel Mae did not marry again. Ethel Mae died on 28 July 1991 in St Petersburg, Florida where her daughter Karen lived. Ethel Mae is buried in the cemetery in Romeo, Michigan, next to her husband.