Harold "Skip" Charles Burkart

Harold Charles “Skip” Burkart April 8, 1932 - October 16, 2026

Skip Burkart passed away peacefully at his home in Columbus, Mississippi on Friday, October 16, 2026.

Visitation will be Saturday, October 24th from 10 A.M. to 11 A.M at Lowndes Funeral Home, Columbus, MS. The memorial service will follow at 11:00 A.M. at the funeral home.  Lowndes Funeral Home is entrusted with all arrangements.

Born on April 8, 1932, in West New York, New Jersey, Skip was a lifelong musician having received his first trumpet at 8 years old. He played with the American Legion Drum and Bugle Corp and, while serving during the Korean War, he played trumpet with the First U.S. Army band stationed on Governors Island in New York Harbor, New York.

After his tour of duty with the U.S. Army, Skip went to work for AT&T in New Jersey and later in Atlanta, Georgia where he retired as an Engineering Supervisor after 39 years with the company. While living in Atlanta, he was often hired by touring musical acts such as Gladys Knight and the Pips and Stevie Wonder for their performances in Atlanta. During this time, Skip became an avid tennis player and a skilled craftsman and carpenter. In 1999 Skip and his wife Anne moved to her hometown of Columbus, Mississippi to begin a labor of love restoring her family’s antebellum home, Shaeffer Place. In his new community, he continued to play trumpet, giving trumpet lessons and performing with the Mississippi State University/Starkville Symphony and the Fairview Baptist Church Orchestra. As a proud U.S. Army veteran, he often played TAPS at fellow veterans’ funerals. He also discovered a love for the stage, acting in several plays and skits at the YMCA and programs at Fairview Baptist Church, where he was also a member of the Sandy Sanders Men’s Sunday School class. Skip was known for his sincere nature, selflessness and witty sense of humor. 

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Anne Gillis Burkart, daughter Cheryl Burkart Burnette of Decatur, Georgia, son Glenn Charles Burkart (Allison) of Escondido, California, Perry Gillis Burkart of Memphis, Tennessee, grandsons Andrew Burnette and Matthew (Kelsey) Burnette, and great-granddaughters Daphne and Matilda. He is preceded in death by parents Ruth and John Burkart and brother John Burkart. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Fairview Baptist Music Ministry.