Paul William Burton

1956 ~ 2022

Paul William Burton, age 65, passed away August 11, 2022, in Santa Clara, Utah, after a long and brave battle with Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA). Paul was born on October 22, 1956, to David Earl Burton and Ora Burton. He was the youngest of their five sons.

Paul married Janene Gourley on November 28, 2014, on Carmel Beach, California. They experienced many years of fun and travel. They had great friends and neighbors in Sandy, Utah and later in Santa Clara, Utah.

Paul is a graduate of West High School and later got his B.S. Degree from Weber State and master’s degree from University of Phoenix. Paul had a dry sense of humor, and he stayed in touch with many life-time friends.

Paul loved cars all his life. He owned and fixed up over 25 Volkswagens, owned and fixed jeeps and many other cars. His avenue friends named a type of car maneuver on the hill, a “Paul Burton”. Later Paul bought a Corvette and joined the Corvette club in Sandy, Utah. The group traveled many places in the United States.

Paul had many employment opportunities in his life. His first job when he was 16, was working in the maintenance dept. at the LDS Church Office building. His next job was at Iasco Distributing Co. And then he tried an outside sales job for Twirl Town Toys. After graduating from Weber State, he worked for Logan Manufacturing in the Engineering Department and then IMC Wheeler Manufacturing. After achieving his master’s degree at University of Phoenix, Paul worked for Raser Technologies. Paul helped design and build an all-electric race car. The highlight of this job is that they shipped the car to Monte Carlo, and he got to drive it on the Grand Prix Racetrack. After Raser, Paul got a job at FMC Technologies, where he loved working with many friends. Paul ended his career working for ABB and this is when he got very physically sick. It took three years of tests, doctors and Mayo Clinic to finally find out that he had this rare terminal MSA disease.

The thing that Paul was most proud and grateful for, was his daughters Lindsey, Emily and Kelsey. He was grateful they had a good mother and that each of them turned out to be loving and successful mothers as well.

Paul is survived by his wife, Janene Gourley Burton. Daughters; Lindsey (Robby), Emily (Matt), Kelsey (Jake) and their mother Diane. His grandchildren Eden, Beck, Emmy, Anders, Asa and Nash. His bonus children through marriage Todd (Jill), Melissa (Benji), Trevor, Kelsey (Jake) and his bonus grandchildren; Lily, Amelia, Porter, Finley, Jordan, Sam, Hannah, Isaiah, Quinley and Nora. Siblings; Jeff (Marlene), Jon (Mickee), Tim (Suzanne), and Andrew (Cheryl).

Paul was preceded in death by his parents Dave and Ora Burton.

For those who cannot attend the main Celebration of Life Gathering for Paul, there will be an additional one held Saturday, September 10, 2022, at Larkin Mortuary (260 East South Temple) from 11:00 to 1:00 P.M.

The main Celebration of Life for Paul will be on Saturday, September 24, 2022, at the old historic chapel (2nd Ave and G street). Doors open at 11:00 A.M. Luncheon at 12:00 noon and program at 1:00 P.M. Interment at the Salt Lake City cemetery (N street) at 3:00 P.M.


Guestbook/Condolences

Happy, fun, upbeat and loving. I will truly miss this very good friend.


- Mark Brown

Janene, I am so deeply sorry for your loss. Paul was such a good guy... and I know how happy you were.
Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you. Stay strong sweet girl! Love Afton


- Afton Mabey

I love you so much Janene. My heart goes out to you and your family. What a difficult challenge of life you have had and you are amazing and wonderful and endure to the end. I am so very proud of you and I can’t wait to be able to hug you in person. My sweetest condolence dear friend


- Janet F Hardy

My condolence to the Paul Burton family.
Paul was a very nice gentleman. It was an honor to work with him.
Thoughts and Prayers to all of you.
Cindy Sanders


- cindy sanders

Our heartfelt sympathy to the Burton family for their loss of this wonderful man.


- Edward & Marcy Reott

Dear Janene,
I am heartbroken to learn of the death of your handsome husband. You seemed to be so happy together.I am really grateful you found each other and had these happy years together. You are a beautiful mother and I know your children will be a circle of strength for you now, even as I know that is not the same at all.

My thoughts and prayers are with you, dear Janene.

With much love, Carole


- Carole King

Condolences to Paul's family from a longtime friend. I've known Paul for over fifty years, since his brother Tim married my sister Suzanne. In our teenage years we were also good friends, and were coworkers for three years on the janitorial crew of the Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake City. Memorable experiences with Paul include, working with him full time one summer on the "wax crew" with several other guys, during which we laid down new wax on all of the floors of the COB from 26 down to the third lower level; a week-long backpacking trip in the Granddaddy Lakes in the High Uintahs another summer with Tim, Suzi, Paul and a bunch of Tim's friends (Paul coached me in catching my first-ever fish on that trip); and "helping" Paul as he rebuilt the motor on his Volkswagen bug, using a creeper to drop the engine. We both had VW bugs at the time, and I was (and still am) in awe of his mechanical ability. He was always a happy, friendly, humble and extraordinarily smart guy. Best regards, Dan Gibbons, Holladay, Utah


- Dan Gibbons