Paul Roland Burza (1976-2022) Obituary and Memorial

Life story

Paul Roland Burza, age 46, of Galesburg, MI, passed away peacefully at home with family by his side on Monday, December 26, 2022, after a nearly 2-year courageous battle with an aggressive form of metastatic lung cancer. He was born on March 2, 1976, in Kalamazoo, MI, to Teri K. (Littell) and Paul D. Moran. He was later adopted in his childhood by his step-father, James “Jim” Burza and was given the surname of Burza. He was raised and attended school in Gobles, MI. His childhood nickname that was lovingly given to him by close family was “Charlie”.

On April 14, 2000, he married the love of his life, Deborah (Webster) in Camden, TN, who survives. He met her by fate in 1999 while he was visiting some family in Tennessee, and had decided to stop at a restaurant where she was working at the time and asked her to go on a date… the rest is history. After they were married, they moved to Knoxville, TN for his wife to attend University of Tennessee-Knoxville; however, after a visit back home to Michigan, Paul’s family, friends, and the beautiful scenery of Lake Michigan won her over, and they decided to move to Michigan, where they stayed to raise their family. They were blessed with almost 23 years of marriage and three children: Tristin Burza (age 20), Kaitlyn Burza (age 14), and Brayden Burza (age 9).

Paul is also survived by his parents, Teri Littell-Burza, Jim (Rachel) Burza, and Paul (Dorothy) Moran; three sisters, Angela (Cody) Terry, Kimberly Moran, and Lisa Burza (fiancé Colin VanderVeen); three brothers, Dustin (Laura) Moran, Josh Moran, and Jimmy Burza; and grandmother, Wilma Burza. Additional survivors include his in-laws in Tennessee, as well as many nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, close friends, and extended family members.

Paul was preceded in death by his grandparents, Roland and Betty (Jackson) Littell, Harold and Alice (Burns) Morin, and Everett Burza; and by his mother-in-law, Renee (Baggett) Spence earlier this same year, in January 2022.

He will be greatly missed by all family and friends for his loving heart, wittiness, and ability to make people smile and laugh. He could carry on a conversation with anyone and made many friends over the years. Regardless of how difficult things became, he never lost his sense of humor.

His greatest pastime was spending time with his wife and children, taking his kids fishing, watching movies with them, and doing other fun family activities. He had many interests and attended college three different times, once for business at Davenport, then HVAC, and finally for culinary at KVCC. He really had a passion for cooking and enjoyed cooking meals for his loving family. He joked that he had always hoped to run his own pizza restaurant called “Papa Pauly’s Pizza Palace”, and we know it would have been the best around! He also enjoyed drawing and was a really good sketch-artist, which happened to pass down genetically to his daughter, Kaitlyn.

Paul was a member of Radiant Church in Richland with his family. He was always working to better himself and make his family proud. He declared his faith in Jesus Christ at Radiant in 2017 and was baptized. We know he is resting in Jesus until we can be with him again.

The family wishes to thank Centrica Care Navigators for hospice care to help keep Paul comfortable in his final days.

A Celebration of Life and private graveside service will be held, where he will be interred at Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo, MI.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to his wife, Deborah, for support of their young children.

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