Gay Rosanne Burleson Hilbun
Funeral Services for Gay Roseanne Burleson Hilbun will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Starkville First Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Starkville Oddfellows Cemetery.
She died Thursday, July 27, 2017, at Oktibbeha County Hospital.
A former Miss Hospitality for the State of Mississippi, she met her future husband, the late Ben F. Hilbun, Jr., who was a state senator at the time, at the dedication and opening of the Highway 12 by-pass in Starkville while conducting her duties as Miss Hospitality.
A homemaker to her family, Mrs. Hilbun was always a strong proponent of youth development and was a leader in Starkvilleand at Mississippi State University having served in a number of volunteer and professional positions dedicated to the betterment of young people. She was a member of Starkville Junior Auxiliary, where she helped lead and support the annual “Toys for Tots” program at Christmas for many years, was a faculty advisor for 10 years to the Phi Delta Chapter of Chi Omega Fraternity, of which she was a member when she was a student at Mississippi State University. As a professional she served as coordinator of the MSU yearbook The Reveille, MSU Student Union Activities Board, pageant director for the Miss MSU Pageant and Miss Reveille Pageant, and other clubs and organizations under the Division of Student Affairs at MSU. She earned degrees from MSU, including a master’s in English.
She was preceded in death by her father, William Grafton “Big Bill” Burleson; a sister, Nancy Burleson; her husband, Benjamin Franklin Hilbun, Jr.; and a son, Benjamin Franklin Hilbun, III.
Mrs. Hilbun is survived by her mother, Rosabel “Honey” Burleson of Fulton; son, William Walker Hilbun (Kathleen) of Starkville; a daughter, Anne Howard Hilbun of Starkville; brothers, Bill Burleson (Patsy) of of Fulton, Mississippi, and Bob Burleson (Robin) of Georgetown, Texas; a sister, Angel (Ricky) McKinion of Philadelphia, Mississippi; a grandson, Walker Caldwell Hilbun of Starkville; and granddaughter, Mary Brown Hilbun of Starkville; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church, where she was a longtime member and felt great love for Julia Denson Sunday School class, taught by Mrs. Marilyn Laird Henley.
Memorials may be made to the Mississippi State University Development Foundation, Post Office Box 6149, Mississippi State, Mississippi, or Starkville First Baptist Church, 106 East Lampkin Street.
Welch Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. You may go online to www.welchfuneralhomes.com to sign the guest register.