TRIBUTE TO LESLIE GENE BURTON
My Son Les
By: Emma Jean Wells (Mother)
He was born Leslie Gene Burton in Dayton Ohio
Parents: Chester Hubert Burton and Emma Jean Wells
He was born on 4-29-1956 and weighed 6lb. 4oz.
He was a very healthy and happy baby. He developed and progressed as any child should. He started walking when he was about 1 year old.
He loved the outdoors, even as a child, every evening he would get fussy if I didnt take him outdoors for a while.
One day I had him in his walker on the patio, I was busy doing something, when I looked around he was chewing something. I checked to see what it was and found two remaining legs of a cricket. Needless to say I was nauseaous.
We had lots of family outings with his fathers family, the Burtons.
He loved animals at the time and we had several different dogs. When he was around 2 years old we had a small dog that he loved. One day He was playing with the dog and it bit him in the face. A few days after the little dog died, before I could get it to the vet, as a result Les had to take the series of rabies shots, 15 within 14 days. They sent the head to the lab to have it checked, it had distemper. Les had taken all those shots for nothing.
He really was a good boy. He and I did lots of things together. One time when he was 8 years old we flew to Tenn. and drove back with a friend, It really was a good trip.
When he was 6 years old we built a house in the country in Bellbrook Ohio.
He loved it there. We had 2 acres with our home, which had a creek at the back of the property, he loved to play there. Many times I would put my hands in his pockets when I got ready to wash clothes and come out with a snake skin he had collected.
He loved to collect different kinds of rocks and fossils and when we visited Tennessee he collected many there. Les was always taking care of some kind of pet or another.
When he was around 10 years old he had a dog named Gomer, whom he really loved very much and it disappeared the first day of hunting season because she was a beautiful beagle. I am sure someone probably thought he was a good hunting dog and took him.
After that he had an assortment of animals, Guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, and another dog named Poochie.
In 1965, after his father and I divorced,
we moved to the town of Bellbrook, Ohio.
We lived there about 6 years
until I remarried
and then we moved to Tuttle Avenue in Dayton.
He and his brothers, Art and Gary
attended Bellbrook schools until he was 14 years old.
He, then, attended and graduated Wilbur Wright High School in Dayton Ohio.
After Les graduated from High School, he worked several different jobs.
He was always
willing to do what was needed. He was working at the Dayton Airport when he met Wilma Fugate, they fell in love and married.
He then got a job with the City of Dayton, working
as an electrician on traffic control. He was there for 20 years.
Married:
Wilma Fugate, Dayton Ohio, born: 12-26-1956
Children:
1...Debra Lynn Burton Burke born: 8-18-1980
Married: James Burke
2...Sarah Jean Burton born: 5-19-1983
3...Leslie Marie Burton born: 10-11-1984(twin)
4...Stephen Charles Burton born: 10-11-1984(twin).
Also a child: Shannon McDonough born: 3-11-1978
We were all a very close and loving family. Les was a wonderful father and husband.
As the children got older we would take trips together. One year 1995 we all piled in the van
and drove to Bar Harbor, Maine. That was a fantastic trip, we went whale watching, picked out our own lobster,and watched them fix it. We also stopped on the way home in Niagra Falls
(photo on right).
The children and all of us really enjoyed it and will never forget the good times we had.
Les and Stephen took many trips together, camping and going many different places. He loved the outdoors still and enjoyed all of Gods creation. In 1998 he envited me to go camping with him
and his son Stephen and I accepted. We went to Yellowstone National Park. We drove the car and camped in a tent for 5 days. He slept in a sleeping bag every night and commented on how beautiful the stars were. That trip, I will always treasure in my heart and memory.
When we had our dinners and gatherings and his grandma Barker was always there, She was the center of our gatherings. She made her famous macroni and cheese, which everyone loved, especially Les.
He loved his grandma (Virginia Hawkins Wells Barker) and was always ready to go see her.
Les and Wilma opened a little Electronics repair shop in Huber Heights as a part time job.
He loved working with electronics, repairing tv's, vcr's and computers.
He brought me a computer that he had rebuilt and taught me how to use it and was always helping me and trying to bring me into the future of computers. He would say" Now Mom just get on there and Go For It".
He was really good with people.
He had the shop several years and got mostly interested in
computer technology.
So he closed the shop and worked out of his home for his own pleasure.
He would repair and rebuild old computers and either give them away or sell them.
The children,
especially Stephen, are all good and knowledgeable with computers.
He and Stephen would work together on repairing and fixing them up.
He was intrigued and amazed
at all the things you could do with computers
He was there always for his children and when Marie had a tragedy which involved (a friend) he was there for her with love and caring concern.
On December 31, 2000,he had the priviledge of giving his oldest daughter Debra, in marriage to James Burke whom he really learned to love beforehand.
He was so proud to walk down the aisle with her. She was a beautiful bride. He really enjoyed the reception. He danced and danced and had a good time. He said, "It's costing me, I might as well enjoy it", and he did!
Jan 2nd or 3rd his daughter Sarah was in a bad accident in which she dislocated her hip.
That really was a sad time for him to see one of his children hurt and all the pain she had to go through.
The last visit I had with him was so great. It was as if it was meant to be. He used his cd burner to make me a cd which I shall always treasure. It was of Leann Ryns singing Amazing Grace and many of her other songs. He also had made a video of her for me.
He had picked up a computer hard drive at a garage sale that day, which needed repair. He and Steve discussed getting a needed part that was on sale the next day at Best Buy. They were so excited with a rebate of $50 they could fix it up for less than $100. I think that was what he was doing the next day, 4-01-01, when he had a heart attack and died. He was doing what he liked to do best! A lady needed advice on what blank cd's were best to use? He said, "Come with me and I'll show you". While talking to her he had a massive coronary and died instantly.
Les had struggled with diabetis for the most part of his life and this is probably what
contributed to his heart attack.
He will be remembered with the greatest of love, the happiest of thoughts, and he will be missed forever.
Les, You Still Brighten The Day
You still brighten the day
in your own special way,
Like a rainbow that is bright in the sky.
Then we just sometimes wonder why? oh why?
Like a shiny star that lights the night.
We wish we could hold you tight.
We remember how you were
As warm as the morning sun,
We remember all the fun
Like a butterfly it brings a smile to our face.
As we look up to the sky and remember
one so dear who's love is still near,
We wish you were here.
You mean more to us with each passing day.
much more than we could ever say.
Life is changed, not taken away.
Gayl Wells, 2001
A Song For Les
Son, As I sit here thinking of you,
my heart turns a shade of blue,
As I pace all day and dream all night
without you here,
things just dont seem right
Although you will be gone for a while,
on my face I'll always wear a smile
and until again I see you,
my heart will stay a shade of blue.
by: Charlotte Pence
a friend of Les's brother Gary's
Song:
In The Arms Of An Angel
by: Sarah McLaughlin
Webpage by: Gayl Wells
