Cecil and Elsie met first on a blind date set up by her sister Thelma and Cecil's fraternity brother Francis White. That was Dec. 1, 1951.  Thelma and Francis met by chance at Memorial Hall on the UGA campus. Memorial Hall then was a recreation place set up to give students a place to meet. and to have diversion from studies.  Soon after they met and had a few dates, they quit dating others. During this early dating it was learned that her older sister Eddie Mae had cancer.  So Elsie turned much of her spare time to helping her, and many of their dates were at Eddie and Dan's (Burke) apartment  just off the campus.  Elsie's grandfather died in early 1952, and Cecil's father died in March of the same year. Cecil graduated from ag school in June of that year with a BSAg and returned home to help his mother with the family farm and business.  Sister Eddie Mae died in July and was buried in Rome, the Burke family cemetery plot.
    Note: Since her death Dan has died and was not buried beside her.  So it was decided by her siblings to move her body to Mt. Zion Baptist Church cemetery at Suches Ga. She is now buried beside her parents.
  Cecil and Elsie did manage to date a few times during the summer, Cecil even travelling to 4-H Camp Wahsega in the north GA. mountains. It was there he proposed to Elsie and she accepted.  Cecil was exempted from the Military Draft to finish school, but once finished he again become 1-A.  So in Nov. of 1952 Cecil allowed himself to be drafted into the US Army for 2 years. He chose to not go to officers candidate school, but stay his career as an enlisted person.  Elsie had returned to UGA for her senior year, with her and Cecil keeping in touch mostly with letters. Cecil was in Army Basic training at Fort Jackson SC during Jan./Feb. of '53 and had begun 'on job training' as a food inspector.  During Elsie's last quarter as a senior, was living in 'home management' and taking classes to complete here BS in Home Economics.  Note: the School of Home Economics is now  FACS or Family and Consumer Sciences.

More later.