The Roodhouse community saw two of its most well-known public servants and business leaders retire over the weekend. Charlie and Beth Burrus retired from full-time pharmacy work on Friday after over 30 years in business.
The Burrus Drug Store opened in 1961 after Charlie’s family purchased the Coffman Drug Store. Roy and Betsy Burrus managed the store on the Roodhouse square until 1985.
According to the Greene Prairie Press, Charlie spent many days of his childhood and adolescence at the Coffman and eventually Burrus Drug Store. Charlie was a jack-of-all-trades at the store – taking deliveries to customers, waiting on customers in the store, stocking shelves, and general cleaning duties. Charlie eventually decided to go to school to be a pharmacist and was admitted to the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. While at pharmacy school, Charlie met Beth and the couple married in 1976.
Beth had similar experiences in her own hometown of Webster Groves, Missouri, an inner ring suburb of the City of St. Louis. Beth started out as a clerk and eventually became a technician before also going to the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.
After a few years of working in the St. Louis metro area, Charlie and Beth returned to Roodhouse in 1979 and went to work in the Burrus Drug Store. They would assume full-time management of the store in 1985. The Burrus Family would become a fixture in the Roodhouse and North Greene schools community ever since. Charlie served several terms on the North Greene Board of Education. Beth spent a number of years on the Roodhouse City Council and the Roodhouse Library Board. Burrus Drug Store was also a major sponsor of several sports teams, North Greene schools activities, and several events and organizations in Roodhouse.
The Burrus Family scaled back some of their operations when they sold the store to Pharmacy Plus owned by Byron & Brenda Berry of Carrollton in 2016. Charlie and Beth will assume a more part-time role at the pharmacy as Amanda Crane will become the new full-time, head pharmacist on site. The Burruses told the Greene Prairie Press says they look forward to spending more time with their grandchildren in retirement.