INDIANOLA, Iowa — In April of last year, Annette Bierkamp's main concern was her 91-year-old father getting access to a COVID-19 test.
"They shouldn't have to fight to get tested," Bierkamp told Local 5 last April, after her father had returned from a hospital visit without receiving a COVID-19 test.
Months later, separated from her father in his Indianola long-term care facility, Bierkamp anxiously awaited her father's chance to get the vaccine.
By January, Bierkamp says the staff at her father's facility had gotten vaccinated, and they had done a great job of keeping COVID-19 away from the residents. However, the week of January fourth, and just days before Bierkamp's father got his shot, he tested positive for COVID-19.
"They were like just right in the process of starting with the residents," said Bierkamp. "I mean it was like--just missed it."
Frank Burton died several weeks later, on January 24th.
"It was eerie, when Dad was in his last room, he and his roommate died within a half-hour of each other," said Bierkamp.
To Bierkamp, the timing was frustrating, but she said they were able to hold a lovely memorial service. At the visitation, it was clear that Frank Burton—a former math teacher at Carlisle, DMPS, and DMACC—will be missed by many. Bierkamp was touched when students of his from the early 1960s showed up to the visitation.
"Dad always wanted to help everybody else," said Bierkamp. "His sense of giving back was just as strong."
She says her father was in the Lion's Club, took the score at basketball games in her hometown, and was a Boy Scout leader as well. He loved to read and loved his family.
"He loved his family; family was very important," said Bierkamp.
As a substitute teacher, Bierkamp will be receiving her first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, Feb 12. She said she's extremely grateful that she's able to get one.
In the meantime, she urges her students to continue masking up.
"When I’m substituting, I tell the kids, 'Cover your nose!' I mean, for the most part, they’re excellent; they’re very, very good at it. But I tell them, this is personal now."