Charlotte Burkhart Biris, 87

December 20, 1932 - January 01, 2020

Charlotte Burkhart Biris, 87, of Lititz, passed away on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, at Moravian Manor. She was born in December, 1932, in Newton, KS. Her mother, Gladys Loacks of Scottdale, PA, and her father, I.E. Burkhart of Kitchener, Ontario, met and married in Hesston, KS. When Charlotte was two, they moved with her older brother, Charles, to Goshen IN, where her father joined the faculty at Goshen Mennonite College. Her younger sister, Joyce, came along to complete the family.
Charlotte grew up in Goshen where she graduated from Goshen College in 1954 with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught in the elementary grades for nine years. She married Constandino Biris of Canton, OH and they moved to Geneva, IL, where he established a business. Charlotte received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They adopted two children, Adam and Anne.
Charlotte divorced in 1980. She returned to school for a graduate degree and licensure for counseling with chemically dependent families. From 1983 until 1992 she was employed with the Counseling Department of Alexian Brothers Hospital, Elk Grove Village, IL. In 1994 Charlotte moved to Lancaster and was employed with Pennsylvania Counseling Services in Lebanon until she retired in 2004. She resided at Moravian Manor in Lititz since November, 2011.
Charlotte is survived by her son Adam Biris of Des Moines, IA; her daughter, Anne Biris and her sons Tenzin and Phoenix of Ann Arbor, MI; and her sister Joyce Millen of Lititz.
Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service which will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2020, at 9:30 AM at Moravian Manor, 300 West Lemon Street, Lititz, PA.