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LONGTIME SALVATION ARMY WORKER RETIRING AFTER 11 YEARS

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 7, 2009 12:33 AM CST

Eva Burks, known to some as “Big Mamma,” has spent her life feeding and loving others.

Eva Burks gets ready to cut up some Thanksgiving turkey for the Salvation Army in this file photo from Nov. 2005. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

Burks is retiring from the Salvation Army downtown where she has served as the cook for 11 years. A group of friends and family gathered there Friday evening to recognize her years of dedication.

“I’ve been working for about 60 years, and the Salvation Army is the most rewarding work I’ve ever done,” Burks said.

Cooking meals for the public each evening and preparing holiday meals and food for various Salvation Army meetings is only part of Burks’ service, her daughter Roslyn Summerville said.

“We have always shared our mother,” she said. “At times we wanted her to ourselves, but it finally dawned on us that this is her ministry. She’s happiest when her house is full and something is in the oven.”

She said no matter how much her mother feeds others, she is always given more to share.

“Every Sunday you can figure on at least 20 people coming through her house,” Summerville said.

Several people at the reception talked about eating at Burks’ house and about how good her food is.

“In five or six years I can remember a number of times our advisory board members would come for the meal and leave for the business,” Salvation Army Maj. Ken Luyk joked. “It is good to have known Mrs. Eva. The bad part is, I’m really concerned now about our advisory board attendance.”

For 40 years, Burks cooked at Eden Park Country Club at night, and for many of those years she worked during the day in the cafeteria at the National Center for Toxicological Research.

“She has reached my heart,” Sheriff Gerald Robinson said. “I don’t have a grandmother here and my mother is gone. Big Mamma has been here for me...and she really knows the way to a man’s heart.”

Burks is a Cotton Plant native and she graduated from Cotton Plant’s vocational school/high school in 1947. She then attended Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College where she studied home economics. She was married to the late Albert Burks in 1949 and focused her attention on raising a family.

Salvation Army Capt. David Robinson said having Burks as part of his team made his job much less stressful since he could rely on her to take care of her responsibilities and anticipate potential problems.

“I’m leaving a bunch of good friends, and I will miss them a lot,” Burks said. “I’ve had some good years at the Salvation Army.”

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