Shirley A. Burton
Surrounded by her family and in the arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ, Shirley passed away in the James River Care Center, at the age of 94, on December 27, 2009. She was the last surviving child of eight siblings born to John and C. Annie (Engle) Nelson in Dallas County, near Buffalo, Missouri. At the age of 15, she moved to the Pleasant Hope, Ebenezer area north of Springfield, Missouri. She married Charles H. Spires, in 1936, and to this union five children were born. After a divorce, having lost one girl at birth, she worked for 12 years alone to raise four of her children. She was employed at Oberman’s, (later named Jethro’s) Manufacturing Company for 30 years. She was a hard worker and a loving mother and grandmother. At age 42 she met and married William Franklin Burton and were together until his death in 2004. They had a wonderful relationship and enjoyed 46 years of traveling and fishing from their home on Table Rock Lake. In their later years they moved to Highlandville, Missouri and shared a gentle life there gardening and antique and flea market sales at Breckenridge, Missouri. Frank was also an avid coon hunter and they often camped out together at various locations for the men in their group and their mules to hunt. The ladies cooked and socialized. Shirley always had a smile and a soft word for everyone she met. She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Burton; her parents, John and Annie Nelson; all her siblings; one daughter, Dora Ann Spires; her only son, Charles William Spires; and two grandsons; Stephen Healey and Michael Hart; one son-in-law, Phillip Barnhart. She is survived by three daughters, Pearl Healey, husband Robert, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Shirley Hart, husband Junior, Halltown, Missouri, C. June Barnhart, Highlandville, Missouri; six grandchildren, Dianna Schluter, Terra Verde, Florida; Robert Healey Jr, Albuquerque, New Mexico, David Healey, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Richard Hart, Springfield, Missouri, Bruse Barnhart, Aurora, Missouri, Andrew Barnhart, Highlandville, Missouri. She also has 13 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday January 2, 2010, in Greenlawn Funeral Home South with burial in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday in the funeral home.