Obituary

Obituary

Burnell K. Rebert

December 9, 1918 - July 30, 2012

Burnell K. Rebert, 93, of Lancaster and formerly of Westminster, MD passed peacefully at the Mennonite Home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on July 30, 2012. He was the husband of Mary Helen (Stauffer) Rebert who died December 2, 2000.

Born December 9, 1918 in Hanover, PA, Burnell was the son of the late Roy C. and Mary Kate (Krug) Rebert.

After graduating from Spring Grove High School, Burnell joined the U.S. Navy during WWII and served as a Pharmacist’s mate. He was a member of the Sino American Cooperative Organization or S.A.C.O, an intelligence unit in India and China. They provided the allies with crucial information on enemy troop movements and weather reports in support of air, land and sea strikes. Due to his remote and secret location, he was not aware the war was over until several weeks after the fact. He made his own way out via the Yangtze River to Shanghai. After returning to the states, Burnell graduated from Elizabethtown College in 1947. He went on to become a self-employed Erie Insurance agent for many years in Westminster, MD. He was a member of the Roaring Run Lion’s Club, Westminster, MD. He was also an active member of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Westminster, MD until moving to Lancaster where he became a member of Church of the Apostles.

Mr. Rebert is survived by a daughter, Holly R. Kleimo and her husband John of Lancaster; a son Andrew R. Rebert and his wife Cynthia of Cockeysville, Maryland; a granddaughter, Emily E. Kleimo, Philadelphia, and three sisters; Anna Johnson, Surfside, S. Carolina, Katie Robirds, Austin, TX and Mary Miller, Harrisonburg,VA.

The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff at the Mennonite Home for their loving care and for always making sure Burnell had plenty of ice cream.

A service to celebrate the life of Burnell Rebert will be held at 10:30am on Friday, August 3, 2012 at the Wetzel Funeral Home and Crematory, 549 Carlisle St., Hanover, PA with Rev. Richard W. Cowles officiating. A time to share memories with the family and an opportunity to view will be from 6:30pm to 8:30pm Thursday evening at the funeral home. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Hanover, PA where full military honors will be provided by the Hanover Allied Veterans Honor Guard.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Mr. Rebert’s name to the Mennonite Central Committee, 21 South 12th Street, Akron PA, 17501

To share memories of Burnell, please click "Sign Guest Book" above.

A memorial video celebrating Burnell's life can be viewed by clicking the link below, then click the photo to play the tribute video. (Special Note: If you have firewall protection installed on your computer, it may need to be disabled in order to play the tribute. Macintosh systems need Windows to use the tribute viewer).

Burnell K. Rebert memorial video