Michael Reed Burchell

Michael Reed Burchell of Eden passed away peacefully on the evening of September 12th, 2025 after battling a series of sudden and devastating illnesses. He was 78 years old.

He was born in Reidsville, NC on March 12, 1947 as the only child to Richard and Pearl Burchell. He lived his early life in Ruffin and attended Cobb Memorial through his junior year where he played football and baseball (on the 1964 1A state championship runner up team) then graduated from Bartlett Yancey High School after consolidation in 1965. He attended East Carolina Teachers College (which became East Carolina University in 1967) from 1965-1969, earning a degree in Physical Education and becoming the first person from his family to graduate from college. While there he was a member of the Phi Epsilon Kappa, a professional fraternity for exercise science.

While at ECU he met his wife, Helen Mary Allen from Lumberton, NC. They married in 1969 and welcomed a son, Michael Reed Burchell II in 1970. He started his teaching and coaching career at Eden Holmes before relocating to eastern NC to become a teacher and assistant Varsity/JV Head football coach at Pamlico County High School. In 1972, based on his early success in coaching he returned to Caswell County to become the head football coach at Bartlett Yancey High School. There he started the JV football team and a county wide youth football developmental league. After several challenging seasons in the newly formed Mid-State 3A conference, he left BYHS to teach at Ruffin High school. In 1977, he left to teach at Stoneville High School and returned to the gridiron as head coach of the football team. There he once again found coaching success, guiding them to multiple winning records and a Rockingham County Coach of the Year award. His teams were often undersized but were known for hard-nosed disciplined play and often defeated teams from larger schools. He was a tough coach, but fair, and demanded excellence from his players, and for this he was respected by his players. After Stoneville High School closed due to consolidation, he continued his successful teaching and head football coaching career in the 1990s and early 2000s at Lincoln and Rockingham County Middle School. He retired from teaching in 2001. After retiring from teaching, he continued to coach football, including a return to Holmes Middle School, where he turned them into a winning program shortly after his arrival. In his final years of coaching, he served as a volunteer assistant at Reidsville Middle School.

As a father, Mike spent an enormous amount of his free time with his son Michael. An only child himself, he spent thousands of hours together with Michael teaching and playing sports. He spent his summers coaching the various baseball leagues that Michael was part of, and he and Helen devoted many days and nights on the field and in the stands at those games. Along with his football coaching through the years, Mike also coached golf at Pamlico County and Stoneville high schools, and with a cut-down set of golf clubs, introduced the game to Michael as a child, which has been a lifelong gift for him. They also spent many hours working together in the garage door business. Like his football players, he taught his son the importance of always trying your best, being tough and accountable, and how to overcome adversity – lessons that shaped the rest of Michael’s life. Despite his tough exterior, Mike was also compassionate when needed and provided support for and many fun times with Michael and his wife Kim until the end.

Mike was also an entrepreneur. In the early 1980s, to supplement his teaching salary, he co-founded B&B Garage Doors. He and his partner installed and serviced garage doors in the northern Piedmont of NC and Southern VA during the summers, over weekends, and during school holidays. After an amicable split, Mike continued to operate as B&B Garage Doors of Eden, even during his retirement from teaching. All told, his company existed for 43 years – he literally was on site for his final job three weeks before his passing.

During his “retirement” Mike took up many hobbies. Golf was the most consistent, but he had several significant periods where he was into biking, river kayaking, and fishing. His most recent, and perhaps favorite pastime, was pickleball. He became part of a regular pickleball group at the YMCA that was very special to him. He enjoyed traveling, especially to his condo at the beach, and “grilling and chilling” on his porch in Eden overlooking the river. In the last few years, he also attended Mount Herman Baptist Church, where was infamously known as the guy who wore shorts to Sunday service.

He always had a soft spot in his heart for animals, particularly dogs. He rescued many from poor living conditions or from the shelter. His favorites through his later years included Brutus, Pot, Hobo, Dach, and most recently Sandy who he rescued about a year ago.

Mike had a long history of giving back to his community and helping those in need. Coming from very humble beginnings himself, even as a young teacher he often found ways to provide things like coats for kids he taught who were in need, and there are many other stories and examples of how he helped folks throughout the rest of his life. There is no telling how many people or families he helped, because he did it mostly anonymously and never wanted any credit (and would threaten those who wanted to recognize him for those acts of kindness!). He often donated to various non-profits and volunteered his time for organizations like the American Red Cross.

Mike is survived by his son Michael and wife Kim of Winston Salem, Helen Burchell (Michael’s mother) of Providence, and Cathy Dunn (his long-time girlfriend) of Stoneville.

A visitation will be held on Friday September 26th from 5-7 PM at Fair Funeral Home (432 Boone Rd, Eden, NC 27288). The memorial service will be held at the same location on September 27th at 1:00 PM. Following the service, a celebration of his life will be held next door at the Morehead Fair House from 2 – 5 PM. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Rockingham County Humane Society, the Rockingham County Animal Shelter, or to Ancora Compassionate Care in Wentworth (https://www.ancoracc.org/donate ) in honor of Mike Burchell.