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| Gunda, Ralph, Faith, Lonnie and Billy circa. 1960 |
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| Out in the "outback" of the Missouri Ozarks |
| Ralph Burgess Nine Years Old |
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| Gettin ready for Church |
| Surprise visit to child abuser Helen Burgess |
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| Helen invited me in for a cup of tea, 1988 |
488 Mo. 359 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER 2d SERIES In the Interest of Gunda BURGESS, Ralph Burgess, Faith Burgess, Loren Lee Burgess,and
Billy Burgess, Children under 17 years of Age.
STATE of Missouri, Harold S. Hutchison, Maries County Juvenile Officer, Petitioner, Respondent,
Frank C. BURGESS, Respondent, Appellant. No. 8069. Springfield Court of Appeals. July 30, 1962.
IN RE BURGESS Cite as 359 S.W.2d 484 Petition by county juvenile officer for termination of foster parents parental rights.
The Circuit Court, Juvenile Division, Maries County, E. W. Allison, J.,rendered judgment terminating their rights and
the foster parents appealed.
The Court of Appeals, McDowell, J., held that evidence established that foster parents had willfully neglected to provide
children with necessary care for their health, morals or Welfare fur one year or more immediately prior to filing of petition
for termination of their parental rights and established justification for termination of such rights in both foster parents.
-----Affirmed. n RE BURGESS----Cite as 359 S.W. 2d 484
The States evidence consisted of a report made by the Director of Welfare of Maries County and the testimony of ten witnesses,
covering some 140 pages. The evidence is that Frank C. Burgess for more than a year prior to the filing of the petition in
question was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; that he was only home during holidays, Christmas and Easter; that the
custody of the children in question was entrusted to Mr. Burgess wife Helen.
Most of the time she and the children lived In or near Dixon, Missouri, but on December 15, 1960, she purchased a two
and one half acre tract of land four or five miles east of Hayden, about a quarter of a mile off the highway in a wooded area.
The report of the welfare officer, who visited in the home, showed that the house in which they lived had four rooms,
two bedrooms.
The children attended school principally in Dixon.
In May, Mrs. Burgess secured employment at Meta where she worked for about six weeks. During the term of the employment
the children were left at home in the care
of the oldest girl, Gunda. who was 12.
Mrs. Burgess would get up at 5:00 oclock, prepare her own breakfast and leave home by 6:00 and not return until 5:00 in
the evening. Gunda testified that her mother hit her
in the face with her fist, threw her down on the gravel or rocks and broke a front tooth out. She showed the court the
false tooth that replaced the one broken out She stated that because she had not kept her drawer properly her mother threw
her down on the rocks and sat on top of her; that that was when the tooth was knocked out; that the rocks cut her lip and
made a big sore.
She stated that her mother had hit her quite a few times and knocked out her teeth; that she would just hit them
with anything she could get her hands on; that she not only hit her but also hit Faith and Ralph;
that she did not hit the younger children so much.
She testified that she did hit Billy with a board; that when Faith wet her pants she took the pants and rubbed the skin
off of her face; that she had seen her mother knock Faith down on the concrete and cut her chin; that when Faith came out
of the toilet her mother threw her down on the concrete floor and made a big scar on her face; that she took her hand and
pushed her down on the concrete and that was what caused the scar.
She also stated she was present when her mother shoved Faith's face down in a tub of ice water and held her face under
because she had spilled some water on the floor; that she then took Faiths clothes off and made her carry in wood naked while
there was snow on the ground. She testified that Faith still had a scar over her left eye from the injuries received when
her mother pushed her head in the water.
She gave this testimony:
Q. Now, have you seen your mother strike Ralph with a-any board or a fist or anything?
A. With her hammer and screwdriver and hoe and * * * . I can't remember.
She said when Ralph did not fix the garden right her mother took the hoe and hit him over the head with it;
that she had seen her hit Ralph with a board, She said the time Ralph ran away her mother had hit him with a board that
held the window open;
that that was the day after she had pushed Faith into the dresser and blacked her eye and Faith had run off.
On cross examination she admitted that her parents had bought clothing, toys. dishes and dolls, for the children; that
Faith had a bicycle, Billy and Lonnie had tricycles;
that they were given to them at Christmas.
She admitted they had plenty of food. She testified that it was when Faith had folded pillow cases that her mother had
banged her into the dresser; that she did it quite a few times; each time Faiths head hit the dresser. She stated her father
had whipped her but not very many times;
that he whipped her with a switch; that when he corrected the other children he used reasonable punishment.
Ralph Burgess testified that he is in the fourth grade in school, nine years old ; that he had been in this country two
years; that he came over with Billy and Gunda.
He said his parents were at that time living in Dixon but the next day after he arrived they moved to the country and
he went to another school, then came back and went to Dixon school.
At the time he came over he testified his father was in Fort Leonard Wood , later, went to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, where
he is now.
He testified that:-
his father left all five children with his mother out in the country ; that later they moved over, around Hayden in Maries
County and his mother changed them from the Dixon school to a school in Maries County ; that she got a Job at Meta in a factory;
that she would go to work about 6:00 oclock in the morning and return about 5 :00 or 6:00 oclock in the evening; that
the five children stayed out in the country by themselves
and Gunda did the cooking.
He said they went over to the neighbors sometimes to get milk and to play with their children.
He stated that the day before he ran away on the 3rd of July, his mother whipped him, first with a board and then
with a switch ;
that she hit him on the legs and head he had a bandage on his head where he was cut.
He testified that one day he opened the back door and it came loose; that she hammered the door shut and then hit him
on the head with the hammer and hit him with the steel part in the stomach and he lost his breath.
he gave this answer:
Yeah, she hit all us three with the hammer on the head. She said shes going to hit us in the head with a hammer because
she asked her who put that blue dishpan with the stuff in it. and so she-she.
--she said if shes gonna hit-hit us all, every one of us in the head with the hammer until we tell her.
So we all didn't do it. So she hit us in the head with a hammer.
She was gonna hit us again so I said I did it.
So she took the hammer and hit me on the head all the ways and I ran to empty it.
Q. Now, Ralph, tell the Judge how often would she-how often would she whip you in the two years youve been over here.
how often has she whipped you?
A. Well, she just about whipped us every day, just
about, but not every day, but a week, in the middle,
Saturdays mostly.
Q. And what would she generally whip you with?
A. A board. And then Miss Siegler told her about the switch and she started using the switch and board both.
Once I had to eat a watermelon rind, rind and all, because I didnt-she didn't tell me that she was going to make them
out of pickles.
So I took quite a few watermelons and threw them ower the chicken pens because thats where we keep them all the time.
So I threw it over there, and she asked me what I did with my watermelon rind, and I said, I threw it over the chicken
pen.
And she said, Go out there and get it. So I did. He testified she made him eat these rinds; that she gave him five minutes
to eat them and she said if I didn't eat them within that time she would poke them down me and hit me with a piece of wood
from behind the stove.
He testified that he heard the testimonyof his teachers about him coming to school with blue marks and a cut on his face.
He said he got the marks when his mother slapped him off the piano bench when he didn't play the notes right;
that when he went to school the next day
Mrs. Bremer saw the markings; that he had gone to school other times with marks on him where his mother had hit him and
the teacher saw every one of them.
He testified that he had seen his mother hit Gunda with a board and with her fist and also had seen her hit Faith in the
face with her fist.
Witness testified that his father was present sometimes when his mother beat him with a board.
He said the first time when she beat him on the head it started to bleed and his father told her to stop but she just
kept on and finally he stood up and said "Now, quit, that's enough".
He stated he ran from her; that she caught him and beat him on the head with a board and his daddy wrapped it up for him.
He testified his mother said she was going to send him to an orphanage and that night he slept in the car.
He testified that his father was nice to them until he came back front Kansas, when he started beating them with a board.
He said his father came back on june 30th before he ran away on July 3rd; that he beat him twice before he ran away.
Sheriff Shockley testified
that he was called to Hayden Store on July 4th and there picked up Ralph Burgess; that at the time he observed bruised
places on the back of his legs and a cut on his forehead; that the boy told him he was afraid to go back home.
The sheriff turned the boy over to Mr. Hutchison, Juvenile Court officer who called In Mrs. Elley, Welfare Director of
Maries County;
that Mr. Burgess was like-wise called and he brought in the rest of the children. The sheriff testified he was present
when the other children came in and observed that Faith had a cut over her left eye and it was all black.
IN RE BURGESS Mo. Cite as 359 S.W.2d 489
Faith Burgess testified that she is eight years of age;
that she went to school in Dixon; that since her parents have moved into Maries County she had been going to school over
there.
She said she was in the second grade and would be In the third next year.
She testified that Mrs. Opperman and Mrs. Bremer were her teachers in Dixon;
that she heard her teachers tell about her nose and checks being skinned up and that it was done by her mother.
She said her mother had rubbed her wet pants over her
face until it was all raw. She stated that one time she was dusting and hadto go to the bathroom but her mother said she
couldn't until she had finished; that she ran to the concrete porch and her mother pushed her down on her chin.
She showed the court the scar on her chin that was caused, by the fall.
She testified she spilled water one time on the floor and her mother pushed her head down in a barrel of Ice water and
held It under the water;
that the reason she did this was because she spilled a little water whenshe waswriting on a blackboard and her mother
grabbed her and stuck her head down In the rain barrel and cut her face on the barrel;
that the scar on her face was caused by that injury; that her mother had struck her in the face other times with
a stick on board or anything.
Witness stated when she came to Mr. Hutchison's office she had a black ey and a cut over her left eye.
She said she had folded some pillow cases and did not fold them right; that her mother then pushed her against the knob
of the dresser several times; that this caused her to have the black eye and cut over her left eye.
She testified she had gone to school before this time with black eyes caused when her mother would hit her in the face
with her fist.
She stated she would have to stay out of school several days at a time because of her black eyes and scabs on her face;
that her mother had told her to say she fell down and she stated she would say she bumped it.
She stated that her mother threatened to beat her If she told what caused the wounds;
that the day she ran away from home her mother said she was going to send her to an orphanage and had her get all her
clothes ready.
She said the reason she ran away was because of the beating her mother had given her with a board on her legs.
Marguerite Elley testified that she was Director of the County Welfare Office of Maries County and was present In the
office of the juvenile Court officer and there
talked to Ralph Burgess;
that he had blue stripes on the calves of his legs, behind his knees, a cut on the top of his head and a large lump on
the back of his head;
that the boy told her these Injuries were caused when his mother whipped him with a board.
She testified that the bruises and welts were still in evidence. She said- she was present when Mr. and Mrs. Burgess brought
the other children into the office; that she had Gunda, Ralph, Faith and Loren go down to her office where she was joined
by the sheriff and the juvenile court officer.
She stated Ralph spoke only of being beaten on his legs with a board;
that Gunda, Faith and Loren stated their mother had whipped Ralph and that she always whipped them with a board; that
Faith had run away a day or two before Ralph but she got lost and returned.
She testified that the children told her that Faiths black eye was caused because she had folded the pillow cases
lengthwise; that her mother a had requested they he folded crosswise;
that when the mother found Faith putting them In the drawer she bumped her head against the dresser or chest of drawers.
She stated Faiths eye was swollen, bruised clear down below her check bone and there was a small cut In the eye brow;
that her eye was completely black.
She said the reason the children were absent from school was because of the beatings received front their mother.
She described the home in which the mother and children lived as being a small four room house, two bedrooms,
in a remote area where it was very rough and wooded.
Leroy Opperman, Principal in the Dixon schools testified that Faith and Gunda attended the school where he taught; that
during the second month of the last school year Faith came to school with the skin rubbed off her nose and her check and nose
were almost a solid scab; that she had been out of school all of the preceding week.
He testified that he observed Faith and Ralph coming to school with injuries on their faces mumerous times; that it appeared
to him there was never a week or two at the most that there weren't some bruises or cuts on their faces.
His testimony was that the children would be absent from school from five to eight days before they would come back with
bruises on their faces lots of times;
that their faces were bandaged so the teachers could not see exactly the extent of the injuries; that Faiths eye and under
her eye brow and- chin were bandaged but you could see the bruises on them.
He said Ralph came to school with bruised cheeks and Faith with black eyes;
that Ralphs injuries seemed to be finger marks.
The school attendance records were
offered in evidence showing the children were out of school most of the time. Some-times they were out the entire month.
Witness testified that Mrs. Burgess would write and say she feared Faith had rheumatic Fever and that Major Purcell had
ordered her to bed; that he called Fort Leonard Wood and found that Purcell was a nurse and that she denied she had ordered
the child to bed.
He stated that Faith had more cuts and bruises than the others.
490 Mo. 359 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES
Witness stated that because of the Injuries appearing on the children he contacted Mrs. Benage, county health nurse, and
asked her to visit in the home;
that she made her report that the mother was trying to discipline them too severely.
All of thc evidence was that the children were well behaved and their conduct was good, both at school and on the bus
from school to their home.
Helen Opperman, a first grade teacher in Dixon schools, testified that she had Faith in her class in the year 1959/60.
She de-scribed the injuries to Faiths nose and cheeks; that the child told her she had wet her pants and her mother had
rubbed her nose in it.
She said her cheeks were bruised and the skin was about all off her nose and her face just looked bruised.
When asked how many times she had come to school with bruises she stated it was hard to tell but would say six to eight
times and maybe more.
She testified that Ralph was in the second grade; that he came to school with one eye extremely black and with bruises
across his face;
that he was out of school several times because of an injury to his foot.
She said Faith came to school with blood in the wrinkles around her mouth and she said it was caused by her mother forcing
her to eat ice cream.
She corroborated her husbands testimony that Faiths attendance was not regular.
She said she reported the condition of the children to the principal.
She examined the scab on Faiths face and testified that it extended from between the eyes to the tip of her nose; that
it was sore, maybe solid, all through the cheek.
She stated that other times she had observed bandages on each of Faiths eyebrows and said that the children were well
behaved and there was no disciplinary problem with them in the school.
Mrs. Bremer, a teacher In the Dixon schools, testified that both Faith and Ralph attended her classes;
that she observed these children on various occasions coming to school with cuts and bruises on them; that Faith came
with her eyes blacked.
She said this happened many times. She observed the cuts on Faiths chin and top of her head. She said she came to school
with scabs on her cheeks and nose.
She gave this answer:
"Practically the whole time she was in my room she had scars on her face.
She was unable to say the exact number of days the children were absent but she said they were absent more or less continuously
during the two years.
She particularly remembered slap marks across Ralphs eyes and on his face.
She said the marks were blue or black and his eyes were black and she testified that this wasn't the only occasion she
had noticed injuries on him;
that there were other times when he was skinned.
490 Mo. 359 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER 2d Series
She said Ralph would he absent from school frequently and when he would return he would have these injuries.
She testified she talked to Mrs. Burgess in the park; that Mrs. Burgess told her that Faith did not want to come to school;
that she had piddled around and missed the bus and, as a punishment she made her clean out the outdoor toilet and she
said she was going to take her home and make her move a woodpile.
She testified that Faith told her she wanted to come to school; that after the talk Mrs. Burgess came to the school and
asked for Faiths things; that when she asked what Faith was going to do Mrs. Burgess told her it was none of her business;
that Faith never came back to school.
Mrs. Eunice Sooter, a housewife,
testified
that when she went to pick up her daughter at school she saw Faith with her face and cheeks all skinned up; that she had
a conversation with Mrs. Burgess about It and she stated Faith had a habit of wetting her pants so she just took them off,
they were heavy cotton pants, and rubbed the hide off of her nose with them.
The testimony of appellants was principally a denial of the charges made but Mrs. Burgess did admit that she had broken
Faiths arm but stated she was playing with her when she did it.
The custody of these children at least for more than one year while Frank C. Burgess was stationed in Leavenworth,
Kansas, as a member of the army, has been In the care of Mrs. Burgess.
These five children have been punished repeatedly in a cruel and inhuman manner, leaving sears on the bodies of the three
oldest children which caused two of the children Ralph and Faith, to run away from home.
The evidence by the appellants witness, a neighbor living a half mile from the home, stated that Gunda, while In his home,
cried and said that somebody would have to help them because Mrs. Burgess was so mean.
We agree with the decision of the trial court that Mrs. Burgess willfully neglected to provide the children with proper
and necessary parental care essential to the morals, health and welfare of said children and that the court was justified
in finding that it was in the best interest and welfare of said children that the parental rights of Frank C. and Helen Burgess
should be terminated.
That the behavior, environment and associations of the children are injurious to their welfare in that for the past two
years the foster mother, Helen Annette Burgess has on repeated occasions Inflicted excessive punishment on said children to
the point where it endangered their life and limb.
490 Mo. 359 SOUTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES
We did not set out all of the facts. While the evidence disclosed that proper clothing and food was furnished these minor
children it also disclosed that the home, bought by Mrs. Burgess, was not paid for; that she borrowed all the money from a
neighbor, Mrs. Corey, to pay for the same and there is still more than $1,000 due; that most of the fixtures and furniture
in the home were bought on the installment plan and have been turned back to the sellers; that all of the household goods
have been packed for removal to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, out of this state.
The evidence is that the children have been placed in a suitable home and are now happy and contented.
We find no merit in the alleged errors of appellants.
The judgment is affirmed.
RUARK. P. J., and STONE, J., concur.
July 30, 1962, Springfield Court of Appeals, Missouri No. 8069 Cite as 359 S.W. 2d 484
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