The funeral for one of Bermuda’s oldest residents, Esmee Burrows, will take place at Southampton Seventh-day Adventist Church today.Mrs Burrows, the mother of former Progressive Labour Party MP Reginald Burrows, died last week, a month short of her 105th birthday, following a short illness. Mr Burrows paid tribute, telling The Royal Gazette: “How fortunate I was to have her for a mother, especially for so many years.”She was born in June 1906, back in the days Bermudians used horse and carriages, and before most people had electricity, indoor plumbing or telephones. In fact, she was six months old when former Whitney Institute teacher Reginald Fessenden stunned radio operators on ships across the Atlantic by making the world’s first ever radio broadcast; his recital of poetry and violin solo of ‘Oh Holy Night’ was transmitted through equipment normally only used for Morse Code.Mrs Burrows’ memories of the way things were made her a frequent subject of newspaper features in recent years, as she reminisced about the community spirit that ensured children grew up with family values even when times were hard.She came from a very large and well-known Southampton family, one of six children born to William and Martha Lovell, attending school in a building now used for a storehouse for White’s supermarket. Her parents emigrated to the United States when she was 15, and she went to night school in Patterson, New Jersey, later getting a full-time job at an embroidery factory.Mrs Burrows later put her longevity down to her mother’s tight rein, telling this newspaper in an interview last year: “She was so strict with me I expect I might live to be 200.”Returning to Bermuda aged 25, she married Reginald Burrows Sr, a plumber and contractor, and the grandson of the first baptised Seventh-day Adventist on the Island. They were married for 68 years until Mr Burrows’ death, and had two children, Reginald Jr and Correne, seven grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.Her family was among the first in Bermuda to have indoor plumbing, thanks to Mr Burrows’ profession; because wealthy families wanted him on call to fix their plumbing problems, they were also among the first to have a telephone installed.She joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1953 and became a key member, serving as deaconess, assistant Sabbath School secretary and on community services and gourmet committees; more than 1,000 worshippers attended a tribute in thanks for her family’s contribution to the Church’s development in Bermuda in 2008.In 1968, her son Reginald was elected as one of the PLP’s first MPs, representing Southampton East for 35 years, largely alongside House of Assembly Speaker Stanley Lowe.Today’s funeral will be followed by interment at St Anne’s Cemetery.