Joe Burton

Joe Pat Burton was born on May 14, 1934, in Tri City, Kentucky. After an almost two-year battle with cancer, he passed away peacefully at home on May 13, 2021, just one day shy of his eighty-seventh birthday.

Joe grew up on a farm in Graves County, Kentucky, the youngest child of Harry and Annie Burton with his siblings Jim, Bettye, and Alice. Joe loved his youth and often told stories about his adventures with friends and family in western Kentucky.

Joe attended Sedalia High School and was a member of the FFA and the basketball team.  After high school, Joe had various jobs in numerous places, the furthest from home being in Skagway, Alaska when living with his brother, Jim and his family. He then spent two years serving his country in the US Army and was stationed even further from home at the garrison in Schweinfurt, Germany.  He was honorably discharged in 1958, as a Private, First Class.

On Valentine’s Day of 1959, Joe married the love of his life, Jane Austin, of Fulton, Kentucky. He was a dedicated husband to his wife, and they recently celebrated their 61st anniversary.

Joe completed television and radio repair school in St. Louis, Missouri, obtained a First-Class FCC License, and had a thirty-five year career as a Two-Way Radio Man in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas. He retired from Phillips Petroleum in 1994.

Joe and Jane were active members of several church families over the years, including Dotsonville Church of Christ in Clarksville, Tennessee; Salem Church of Christ in Shepherdsville, Kentucky; 21st & Eisenhower Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas; Gardner Street Church of Christ in Borger, Texas. For the last twenty-six years, they have been faithful members of the Sherwood Church of Christ in Odessa where Joe served as a deacon and enjoyed working with the Funeral, Clothing, and Nursing Home Ministries.

Joe enjoyed bowling, reading, working crossword puzzles, watching movies, playing cards, drinking coffee, fixing things that needed fixing, and spending time with his family and friends. He always had a story to tell and a song to sing. His family will forever remember him as a kind, loving, godly man, ready to lend a hand to anyone in need. Faith, family, and friends were truly the most important things to Joe.

Joe was a loving, supportive father. He is survived by his son, David Burton, of Odessa, Texas; daughter, Jennifer Baxter and husband, Bryce Baxter of London, England; son, Paul Burton and wife, Crystal Burton of Glen Rose, Texas.

Joe was affectionately known as “Granddaddy” to his grandchildren: Laura Baxter Obuchowski and husband, Billy Obuchowski, of Fort Worth, Texas; Hannah Baxter, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Nathaniel Burton, Shyrie Burton, Caleb Burton, and Elisha Burton of Glen Rose, Texas; and one foster great-grandchild.

He is preceded in death by his wife of sixty-one years, Jane Austin Burton, his parents, Harry and Annie Burton, his brother, Jim Burton, and his sister, Bettye Nipper. He is survived by his sister, Mary Alice Humphries of Murray, Kentucky, his sisters-in-law, Faye Burton of Quincy, Washington and Gertrude Austin of Fulton, Kentucky, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will have a private graveside service, and a Celebration of Life memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 12 at 10:00 am, at Sherwood Church of Christ in Odessa, Texas.

Special thanks to Tracy Dawson and her wonderful team at Star Hospice for their attentive, compassionate care over the last six months.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Joe’s memory to New Mexico Christian Children’s Home (nmcch.org) in Portales, New Mexico.