Vivienne Helen (Lilienborg) Burkleo

Vivienne Lilienborg Burkleo, loved mother, grandmother and great- grandmother, sister and aunt, died May 31, 2026. Born June 12, 1932 in Malmo, Sweden, the eldest daughter of five children born to Helmi (Helen) and Erik Lilienborg. The family moved to the United States when she was 16, in 1948. She graduated from Cortland College and taught in Central New York for 27 years, to mostly fourth grade students.

She married Charles Burkleo who preceded her in death in 2020. Together they built a family, travelled to all 50 states and Puerto Rico, as well as many European countries. She volunteered at Second Harvest Food Bank and helped build their house in Winston-Salem after her retirement.

Vivienne loved her church families at Trumansburg Baptist Church, Trinity Methodist and Ardmore United Methodist Church. She often sang in the choir during those years prior to her late 80’s. She also sang with The Morning Glories, with performances across Winston-Salem.

Vivienne loved the arts and participated in painting at Our House, played piano, and listening to local classical music station. She also knit prayer shawls for church ministry and knit sweaters and mittens for family. She loved to plant flowers every year and would feed and watch the birds and chipmunks out her window daily, often as she did her cryptograms.

Vivienne passed peacefully holding hands with her children David and Vicki Burkleo. She is also survived by her grandchildren David and Stephen Taber, and John and Michael Burkleo, as well as six great-grandchildren, and her surviving sisters Doris Soyring, Jane Kelly, Nancy Grow, and many nieces and nephews.