BURNS, Eva Myrle

Today's News-Herald, Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Published Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - Eva Myrle Wiley Latham Burns was born Sept. 23, 1920 in the Berg community of Cimarron County, Oklahoma to Ralph and Minnie (Bacon) Wiley. She attended school at the Berg School through the eighth grade. After spending her teenage years in Cimarron County, Eva moved to Wichita, Kan. There she met Harold Latham while he was stationed there with the U.S. Army. They married April 11, 1943. Upon his discharge from the Army, they moved to Phoenix, Ariz. Harold worked for the Bell Telephone Co., while Eva worked as a seamstress, presser and bookkeeper for a dry cleaner. They built their house in Phoenix, working weekends and holidays until it was finished. Eva was also an accomplished photographer, a hobby that Harold always assisted. She was a member of the Sierra Camera Club, winning many awards for her photography. Together with Harold, she enjoyed fishing, traveling and rock hunting. Harold died March 12, 1982. Eva then met Jim Burns whom she married on May 5, 1985. Their home in Phoenix was in the way of a future freeway project, so they built a new house in Lake Havasu City and moved there in the 1980s. There, they enjoyed boating, fishing, prospecting, rock hunting and their pets. They also were members of the B.P.O.E. Lodge of Lake Havasu City. While in Lake Havasu City, Eva stated an alterations business, Alterations by Eva, which she operated for many years. Many friends were made from among her customers. She continued to do alterations until her death, assisting residents of Lake Hills Inn. On March 5, 2000, Eva was baptized and became a member of Lamb of God Lutheran Church. She participated in Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, the Crafters, and Bible study. After an extended stay in the hospital in early 2010, Eva became a resident of Lake Hills Inn in Lake Havasu City. She succumbed to cancer Dec. 27, 2010. Eva was preceded in death by her parents, her two husbands and two brothers, Edgar and Lee Wiley. She is survived by nieces, Avis Strasner, Corine Wiley, and Hazel Hitchings, of Keyes, Okla., Betty Hood, of Kiowa, Colo., Louise Gable, of Pittsburgh, Penn., Beverly James, of Cillett, Penn. and their families. She also is survived by nephews, Richard Wiley and Leroy Wiley, of Texas. Eva loved her friends and other relatives including special friends, Joe and Sherry Johnson, Matthew and Kendra, and Sherrill Tuba, of Lake Havasu City.