Janice Myer Burt's Obituary
A Life of Joy
Janice Myer Burt came into the world on a snowy January morning in McGehee, Arkansas, in a house her father built on a street lined with the homes of aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was the start of a delightful childhood that would be a source of fond remembrance for the rest of her long life. Charles Franklin and Jessie Hagood Myer (Buddy and Jessie to their friends, Gramp and Big to family history) provided a young Janice with a loving home in which to grow. Days spent fishing with her father sparked an interest that would be passed down through her grandchildren, and her mother's famous baking led to a lifelong passion for hosting and hospitality that her family and friends were fortunate to enjoy. Her older sister Marian, from whom she "borrowed" clothes and perfume, and her younger brother Buddy, her favorite BB gun shooting partner, completed the immediate family set, but nearby extended family further encircled Janice's young life. Aunt Lena and Uncle Tom's dry goods store gave Janice her first job, and cousins Bryan and Bobbin provided a ready-made group of friends. Generations of family and friends have heard the tale of Janice and Bobbin furiously running away from home together after being told they could not make fudge one particular afternoon. This momentous and life changing decision lasted ... until about supper time. After capping off adolescence with a McGehee High School career that included tennis, basketball, and a spot as valedictorian, Janice worked for several years in a variety of jobs around southeast Arkansas before her brother Buddy suggested she apply for a job across the state at Harding College in Searcy.
Jan got that job and moved north in 1952 to work in the business office at Harding. A young man from Bastrop, Louisiana named Dicky Burt became first a friend and then something more. They loved to sing songs around the Lily Pool on campus, and many Sunday night dates featured a “pig sandwich” and a Coke for only 25 cents. A wider world opened up to them because Jan’s non-student status allowed her to own a 1949 Chevrolet, and they loved social club picnics on Petit Jean Mountain. Fun college days ushered in wedding bells. On August 26, 1955, they were married, Jan in a white lace wedding gown lovingly sewn by Dicky’s mother, Peg.
The first year of marriage saw the Burts in a three-room apartment in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dick began his medical studies at LSU, and Jan worked at the local newspaper. She loved being “in the know” about the goings on in the state capital. They celebrated their first anniversary at Antoine’s in New Orleans – Chicken Rochambeau and Baked Alaska – fancy fare for the young couple and a cherished lifelong memory. A year later they moved to Dallas, Dick studying at Baylor Dental College and Jan employed at the bank downtown. She worked her way into a better job at Texas Instruments, always in a pair of pretty high heels.
The young Burt family grew by one with the arrival of Barbara in 1958. Jan built a loving home for her children in her trademark style, as exemplified by the time she picked up a sick (or homesick) Barbara from Arapaho Elementary in a fuzzy burgundy car coat with big silver buttons. She prescribed a homemade baked custard, and it did the trick. Three became four when Brad joined the crew in 1963. Back scratches, fun conversations, and cold Twix right out of the refrigerator were emblematic of growing up with Jan, and her famous hosting skills made the parents as much a part of the fun as the kids when it came to friends hanging out at the Burt’s house.
Jan became Jan Jan in 1983 when Barbara had Kolby, her first child, and Jan became a grandmother. She hosted memorable Christmas celebrations and pool parties, and the two spent many hours dropping hooks baited with canned corn under red and white bobbers in golf course ponds with a cane pole. Over the decades Jan Jan and Kolby also worked hard together to become the foremost experts on the lunch dining scene in the North Dallas/Richardson area, which Kolby’s wife Kary was happy to join in on.
Barbara’s daughter Kate became Jan Jan’s first and only granddaughter in 1986. Kate loved to go home with Jan Jan after church on Sundays and play fancy dress up in Jan Jan’s bountifully stocked closet and jewelry drawer. Many such visits ended with a long conversation on the porch swing looking out onto the always beautiful garden.
Brad and Melody’s (her favorite daughter-in-law) firstborn son, Bennett, brought the grandchild count to three in 1992. Sleepovers at Jan Jan’s (with obligatory fishing expeditions, of course) and shopping trips were some of Bennett’s fondest memories, and he was so proud to be able to take her shopping on his own when he turned sixteen.
Briggs completed Brad’s family and Jan Jan’s quartet of grandkids in 1995. Long conversations about life and the occasional back rub made visits with Jan Jan a special joy for Briggs, and it was in her youngest grandchild that Jan the fisherwoman’s legacy will be most strongly carried on.
Becoming great-grandparents to Bennett and Catie’s four brought not just a new generation, but lots of enjoyment and fun. What a treasure!
Outside of family life, Jan worked actively in various charitable endeavors, loved to socialize with friends, and had many interests. She and Dick made lifelong friends at Skillman Avenue Church of Christ early in their Dallas years before moving on to become charter members of the Waterview Church of Christ in Richardson. Jan taught the 4-year-olds Bible class for many years with her friend, Janice Bolin. During the 1960s, 70’s, and 80’s, she volunteered with organizations like Phylos, the fundraising women’s group for Christian College of the Southwest, as well as Associated Women for Harding. In recognition of her endeavors, Harding University propagated a deep purple iris which bore her name, the Jan Burt Iris.
For many years she put her baking talents to good use making pies to send to Christian Care Center. Later in life she became involved with Christian Works for Children, working her rolodex of friends and family to raise money for her “Jan Burt 100 Dollar Club” benefitting their annual auction.
Jan had a wide circle of friends that she maintained throughout her long life. From circle picnics with neighbors and costume parties at St. Luke’s Circle to lavishly decorated family holidays at Bent Tree and Trailwood, she was a hostess par excellence. She played tennis for many years with family and friends at Centre Tennis Club and Bent Tree Country Club. Jan, of course, also loved to shop. Whether at downtown Titches on her lunch break, NorthPark, the Galleria Nordstrom (the only acceptable Nordstrom according to her) or HomeGoods and TJMaxx, she always loved a good deal (though if you ask Dick, he might say she didn’t mind paying full price if the outfit was cute enough).
Watching sports was always a big part of Jan’s social and family life. She loved her home state Arkansas Razorbacks and the Wimbledon Championships. She delighted in the Dallas sports scene, especially the Mavericks. Kolby received a call at least four nights a week asking what time the game started, and Kate was sent out on many expeditions to local sporting goods stores to find a limited-edition Mavs t-shirt Jan had seen advertised on a game broadcast.
To Jan, the simple joys of life, like spending time with friends and family, were what mattered most. No matter small town or big city, at home or far away, she filled the world around her with warmth, laughter, and love. And that love lives on.
Jan was preceded in death by her parents, Buddy and Jessie Myer; her sister, Marian Daniels and her brother, Buddy Myer. Jan is survived by her husband of sixty-nine years, Richard Burt; her children, Barbara and Brad (Melody); grandchildren, Kolby (Kary), Kate, Bennett (Catie) and Briggs; great-grandchildren, Beckett, Ainsley, Addie and Holden as well as dear nieces and nephews and a community of faithful friends. All will miss Jan’s joyful spirit and happy smile.
Christian Works for Children was a ministry near and dear to Jan. In her later years, she started the “Jan Burt Hundred Dollar Club” which would generate tens of thousands of dollars in support of this organization’s vital efforts to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth community. Those wishing to make a donation in her honor can do so by visiting www.christian-works.org/donate.
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