Ethelyn Burge Underwood the daughter of the late Lawrence and Blanche Shaw Burge passed away on November 5, 2011, at the age of 96. Ethelyn was born in Puxico, Missouri on July 31, 1915.

In the early 1920's the Burge family moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where she lived for the next 25 years. She married Leslie C. Underwood in 1934 and they divorced in 1945. She moved to Long Beach, California in December of that year, where she resided until 1999, when she moved to Murrieta, California. At the age of 94 she took her last cruise (number 17) and then decided to move into Crown Pointe Assisted Living in Corona, California where she passed away surrounded by her immediate family.

From the time she moved to California until she moved into Crown Pointe, Ethelyn was fiercely independent. After she arrived in California she worked for a variety of companies, including Prudential, Armstrong Nurseries, and ultimately General Telephone Company (now a part of Verizon). She retired in 1980. Ethelyn caught the travel bug early and over her lifetime traveled extensively throughout Europe. She fell in love with cruising taking seventeen separate cruises. Her traveling companion for many years was Don Leaman whom she had met at Armstrong Nurseries in 1948. From the Mexican Riviera to Asia to the Caribbean, cruising was her favorite pastime. As a member of the Red Hat Society in Murrieta, Ethelyn was the Matriarch of the club. She was also a member of the Rancho Community Church in Temecula, a member of the Ambassadors Class and hosted a study group in her home at the age of 92.

Ethelyn is survived by her son and daughter in law, Michael and Diane Underwood of Riverside, California; and her grandchildren, A'Lisa L. Tello of Wilmington, North Carolina, Dr. Robert M. Underwood of Harrisonburg, Virginia, Andrea L. Underwood of Tucson, Arizona, Craig A. Phillips of Torrance, California and Cyndi E. Phillips of Moore Oklahoma; eight great grandchildren and one great great grandson. Other relatives and friends also survive.

Graveside services will be held Friday, November 11, 2011, at 1 p.m., at the Puxico Cemetery in Puxico, Missouri with Rev. Ray Placher of Puxico officiating. Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Puxico in charge of arrangements