‘A loving soul who cared for everyone’
HATFIELD » “Amazing.” That’s the one word that kept coming up when he talked to people about Jenna Burleigh, Rev. Msgr. Joseph McLoone said during his funeral Mass homily for Burleigh the morning of Sept. 8 at Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Hatfield.
Burleigh could be both frustrating and loving, he said.
She was “a loving soul who cared for everyone no matter how different. She was compassionate and passionate about so many things,” McCloone said. “She cared for all God’s creation and worked for peace and understanding.”
Burleigh, 22, of Lower Salford, was a 2013 Soud-
erton Area High School graduate with an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Montgomery County Community College who had just begun classes at Temple University majoring in film and media studies, according to obituary information. Philadelphia police say she was beaten and strangled in the early morning hours of Aug. 31 by Joshua Hupperterz, 29, of Philadelphia, who allegedly then took her dead body first to his mother’s home in Jenkintown, then to his grandmother’s home in Wayne County, where it was found on Sept. 2.
“Jenna enjoyed spending time with family and friends enjoying life. She devoted a lot of her time combatting racism, homelessness, and sexism, as
well as defending the rights for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A. community. Jenna was ‘unapologetically herself’ and used fashion to express herself,” obituary information said.
At the funeral Mass, her brother Jeb said she was “one of the truest and purest souls that ever lived” and described her as strong, powerful and beautiful.
Quoting John Wesley, the service began with a call to, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
“The way a person lived is far more important than how they died,” McLoone said during the homily.
While learning to ride a bike, Burleigh initially fell, but that didn’t stop her, he said.
“She always got right back up,” he said.
Those in attendance now feel they’ve been pushed down, he said.
“It’s hard to get back up, but we have to,” McLoone said.
“Jenna’s story needs to be told and re-told,” he said. “Her story did not end. It goes on.”
Returning to one of the readings at the service — I Corinthians 12:31 to 13:8 — McCloone reminded those in attendance that “love conquers all” and “love never fails.”
Jenna’s Blessing Bags for the Homeless has been started in memory of Burleigh. Donations may be made payable to “Univest Foundation - Jenna’s Blessing Bags” and mailed to Univest Foundation, 14 N. Main St., P.O. Box 197, Souderton, PA 18964.
Burleigh was a daughter of Joseph Edward Burleigh, III and Jacqueline (Zazyczny) Burleigh. In addition to her parents, she is survived
by a sister, Janelle; two brothers, Jeb and Jacob; grandparents Dorothy Burleigh and Joseph and Martha Zazczny; aunts, uncles and cousins. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.WilliamsBergeyKoffel.com.
Quoting John Wesley, the service began with a call to, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”