It is with great sadness that the family of Gerda Maria DeRussy Burns announces her passing on 14 October 2024 at the age of 90 in Bradenton, Florida. She was born on 19 September 1934 in Breslau, Germany to Fritz and Berta (Gurezka) Deutschmann. During World War II, the family fled on foot across war-torn Germany to escape the advancing Russian army, settling in Schmalnau.
In 1954 she married our dad, Roland DeRussy, who was in the US Army stationed in Germany during the Korean War. They enjoyed traveling in Germany on his motorcycle. They immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio, crossing the Atlantic on a troop ship. They established a family and she quickly became a proud American citizen. She was a bookkeeper for the Industrial Electronic Rubber Co. in Twinsburg, Ohio for many years before moving with the family to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1970.
A second marriage was to Jim Burns. Gerda eventually obtained her Registered Nursing degree and devoted a career to the Bay Pines VA Medical Center, serving our veterans. She and Jim loved to travel throughout the USA and Europe. She loved her little dogs, Teddy and Paco. Gerda enjoyed 32 years of marriage to Jim until his passing in 2009. She was always joyful, ready with a smile, a hug, and a laugh. She will be greatly missed.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Kurt, killed in action in World War II at age 18, sister Inge, and twin sister Christa Koch. She is survived by her 3 children: John (Laurie) DeRussy, Heidi (Tom) Johnson, and Peter (Deborah) DeRussy; 4 stepchildren: James Burns III, Diane (Fred) Friedman, Linda Burns Hyland (the late Dr. Patrick Hyland), and Gloria Williams; 14 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces. Interment will be with her beloved husband, James C. Burns, Jr.
Service will be at 9 AM on February 17, 2025 at Bay Pines National Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Florida.
