The circle of life silently closed forever for Helen Minnie Burger, on Feb. 5, 2014, only 20 days after being diagnosed with cancer.
Born Helen Minnie Merjanian to Armenian immigrants in San Francisco, she married Fred Burger from New Jersey in February 1955 in Sun Valley, Idaho, on their way to a job in Pittsburgh Pa.
She was the beloved mother of four sons, Karl, Paul, Peter and Stephen; spouses: Deena, Robyn and Debbie; six grandchildren, Emily, Harrison, Payton, Nathan, Lauren and Katie; and brother-in-law, Werner, of New Jersey.
Helen attended Commerce High in San Francisco. She worked as an administrative secretary to Elliot Rappaport in the cardiology department at San Francisco General Hospital where they trained doctors in the latest heart procedures and set up events for the International Meetings of the American College of Cardiologists.
Retired in 1991, she joined Fred in Sonoma who had been restoring an 1865 Victorian farmhouse since 1982. In their retirement years, they met many interesting locals and foreigners at their favorite hangout, The Basque Boulangerie.
A memorial service was held at Duggan’s Mission Chapel, 525 W. Napa St. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Hospice By The Bay, 190 W. Napa St., Sonoma, CA 95476.
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