Richard Lee Burt

Richard Lee Burt, our wonderful husband, father, and family patriarch, returned to the loving embrace of his Father in Heaven on the morning of February 29, 2024, just twelve days shy of his ninety-second birthday. A child of the Great Depression, and the second of two sons born to Helen Catherine (Brown) and James Watson Burt, Jr., he shared a dog, a bed on the sleeping porch, a slightly used basketball, and a close-knit family with his older brother, Jay, whom he loved. His maternal grandmother, Goldia Bean Brown, taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and made sure he attended church services with her every Sunday.

He graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, where he played football and tennis. Soon after graduating, he met the love of his life, Dorothy Ann Jensen. Due to the military conflict in Korea in the early 1950s, he was unable to serve a church mission and began studies at the University of Utah instead. Vulnerable to the draft, he joined the United States Marine Corps because they allowed him to complete his studies before being mustered into service. He graduated from the “U” in 1953 with a degree in Finance and completed Officer Candidate School at Paris Island, SC, soon after.

He and Dorothy were married in the Salt Lake Temple on the 10th day of September 1953. A little more than a year later, their family grew with the birth of their son, Steven.

Dick, as he was known to friends, left almost immediately for military service and training in Kansas and Puerto Rico, eventually serving twelve long months in Korea as a Lieutenant. It was a service he was proud to recall in his well-told stories. Dick and Dot (as she was known to friends) welcomed a second child into the family when Lee Ann was born on Dad’s birthday, March 12, 1957. They purchased a small home in Rose Park, on Sunset Drive, where Dick served as an assistant ward clerk.

In 1959, a second baby girl, Lori, joined the family, and Dick moved the family into a small duplex on Lake Street while a red-brick, split-level house was being built for them in a faraway place called Cottonwood Heights. It was there they put down roots, made life-long friends, and a third baby girl, Kristine, was born in 1963. Decades later, in 2015, they moved to South Jordan and met new friends.

Dick led a distinguished life of continual service to others, serving in various church callings including Elder’s Quorum President, Bishop of the Butler 2nd Ward, Stake President of the Cottonwood Heights Stake, and President of the Kingston Jamaica Mission. He served faithfully in the Jordan River Temple, including as a counselor in the temple Presidency. He was a sealer both there and in the Salt Lake Temple.

In his professional career, he worked for Walker Bank, Standard Oil of California, and the State of Utah where he rose through the ranks of bank and credit union examiners to eventually become the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.

He is survived by his loving wife, Dorothy, his son, Steven Burt (Janet), his daughters Lee Ann Sorensen (Darwin), Lori Love (Doug), and Kristine Porter (Rick), seventeen grandchildren, and 44 great-grandchildren. His parents, grandparents, his brother Jay and beloved aunt Lois, and a granddaughter, Kristel, preceded him into paradise, no doubt filled with joy to see him again.

The family wishes to extend their deepest thanks to the caregivers with Crescent Senior Living and Aspire for their kind concern and tender treatment of dad during his stay there.

A viewing will be held on Tuesday evening, March 5, from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM, and for one hour prior to funeral services to be held Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM in the River Ridge 10th Ward LDS Chapel, located at 1409 W Shields Lane in South Jordan, Utah.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the LDS Church General Missionary Fund.