Irma Viola Belva Burton was born October 28, 1925, in Tulsa, OK, to Viola Grace Parker Belva and Charles Albert Belva. Irma died May 28, 2024, in her home surrounded by family, in Broken Arrow, OK. She was 98 years and 7 months old, and lived every year, month and day of that time to its fullest.
Irma graduated with the Class of 1943 from Webster High School (Tulsa, OK), which was the first graduating class to complete all twelve grades at this school. She was a member of Nu Phi Mu business girls sorority and attended a Tulsa tech school in the evenings. Irma began her administrative career with Leeds & Northrup in the Tulsa office shortly after high school graduation until her retirement in 1990. During retirement, she worked at a Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy Store in Tulsa, OK, for several years.
Irma married Kenneth Lincoln Burton on June 4, 1949, having known each other since the fourth grade. After they married, they moved to Scott's Bluff, NE, where Irma cooked on a wood stove. They moved to Denver, CO, before returning to Tulsa, OK. After moving to Tulsa, Irma and Kenneth started a business on Highway 60 in Wagoner, OK, where they sold sandwiches and milkshakes. High school students helped during busy times. Friends took care of their daughter so that Irma could run the business by herself while Kenneth performed land survey work on Talimena Drive.
Irma was a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Tulsa for over fifty years. She will be lovingly remembered for her Christian faith and influence, her friendly demeanor, as well as her sharp wit and mental acuity which she possessed until the very end of her life.
She is survived by a daughter, Jeanine Marie Burton Jones Hogshead (Charles) of Tulsa, OK, and a son, Terry Lee Burton (Debbie) of Broken Arrow, OK. Grandchildren, Jeremy Jones (Melodie); Tony Burton; and Jessie Burton Brown (Zach). Great-granddaughters, Everley Jones and Sterling Brown.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Viola Grace Parker Belva in 1935 and Charles Albert Belva in 1963; older sister, Eileen Lois Belva Owen in 2001; younger brother, Charles "Raymond" Belva in 1961; and her husband, Kenneth Lincoln Burton in 1963.
The family wishes to thank Visiting Angels Senior Home Care and St. Francis Hospice for their compassionate in-home caregiving and support.