Ann Burger

Florence Ann (Harlow) Burger of Belvidere passed away on Monday, December 17 following a brief illness. She was 87 and had been hospitalized in Rockford.

Ann, as she preferred to be called, was born in and lived in Belvidere for all but a few years of her life. In 1944, while she was a student at the University of Illinois, she met Raymond Burger, a pilot who was stationed at nearby Chanute Field, then a training ground for the Army Air Corps. They married the following year, on Feb. 2, 1945 in Champaign, Ill. After spending two years on the East Coast after the end of the war, Ann and Ray returned to Belvidere in 1947 to settle and raise their family, which was always at the center of Ann's life.

Through the years, especially after her children were grown, Ann was active in a number of civic organizations. She was president of the Friends of the Ida Public Library, president of the Boone Country Garden Club, head of the Yard and Home Garden Club and a member of the St. Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary.

She and Ray were longtime members of Bel-Mar Country Club, where they enjoyed countless rounds of golf with their family and friends. She also was an avid bridge player and belonged to several local bridge clubs that played a large role in her social life over the last 15 years.

Ann was born on June 27, 1925 to William and Ann (Walz) Harlow. William died in Belvidere in 1932 of pneumonia. Ann Harlow died in 2001 at the age of 104. Ann Burger's two older brothers, Ronald and William, died in 1979 and 1997, respectively.

Ray Burger, who owned an insurance agency in Belvidere, died in 1996. They were married for 50 years.

Ann is survived by three children: Joan Burger and her partner Linda Tillis of DeKalb; Vicki Smallenberger and her husband Ron of Morton; and William Burger and his wife Susan Greenberg of Andover, Mass. She leaves six grandchildren: Jason (Melissa) Smallenberger, Jodi (Erik) Ciotti, James (Jillian) Smallenberger, Devon Burger, Jordan Burger and Carly Burger, as well as three great-grandchildren: Ella Smallenberger, Evan Ciotti and Andrew Ciotti.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Belvidere Funeral Home. Pastor Mary Gay McKinney will officiate.

Burial will be at the Belvidere Cemetery, and there will be a fellowship meal at Giovanni's Restaurant, 610 N. Bell School Rd, Rockford, at 5 p.m.

Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Belvidere Ida Public Library.