After a short illness, Laverta Joyce Burns, aged 88, died at home on November 22,2024. A loving wife, mother, grandmother she enjoyed long friendships with the many people she met throughout her life. Those who visited Laverta at home appreciated her cooking, her immaculate housekeeping and her genuine warmth for every guest. All were treated to a good meal and good conversation. Sometimes accused of being a food-pusher, Laverta loved to sit down at the dining table together to share dinner and dessert. Always a dessert! Her pecan and apple pies were favorites and the chocolate no-bake oatmeal cookies filled the cookie jar.
In reflecting on her life, Laverta said that she had loved each era, from childhood to old age. From growing up on a farm in Oklahoma, living on her own while working at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, starting her married life with Charley, raising their four children, loving the years she lived near her sister’s family in Washington and the people she met there. In her 52 years in Colorado, she loved hiking the prairies, living the outdoor life, listening to country music, and kicking up her heels at the square dance hall.
Laverta was born March 4, 1936 in the small town of Grandfield in southwestern Oklahoma to George and Maggie Ennis with three much older siblings (Wanda, Eldon, Oniel). She attended Loveland High School where she was the valedictorian of a five-student graduating class of 1954. In 1956 after a good crop of wheat provided the funds for a wedding, she married her childhood sweetheart, Charles Frederick Burns (one of the five in her graduating class.)
Many of Laverta’s favorite memories happened during family camping trips and family reunions. She could whip up a meal on a Coleman camp stove on the tailgate of a Pontiac station wagon as efficiently as she could cook on her range at home. Summer days were often spent hiking and camping and winter days sledding and tubing in the Colorado Rocky Mountains she loved so much.
Throughout her children’s lives, Laverta was their biggest cheerleader. She yelled from the bleachers at sporting events, she loved music and encouraged each child to learn to play an instrument, and supported their education beyond high school even though money was tight. Laverta loved her role as the family communication hub, always staying connected with her adult children and relatives.
Laverta lived her life with integrity and exemplified her Christian values. We take comfort in knowing her legacy lives on in each of us when we greet our neighbors, say hello to a stranger, make that phone call to a long absent friend, and gather around the dining table together to eat, and laugh, and share good conversation.
Laverta was preceded in death by daughter, Melody. She is survived by Charley, her husband of 68 years; daughter, Kristy and Annette; son, Kerry and Laura; grandson, Logan; son, Charles “Marty” and Theresa; granddaughter, Jamie, and Theresa’s children, Samuel and Aaron; and six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in the Montgomery & Steward Funeral Chapel on December 4, 2024 at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Care and Share of Southern Colorado, 100 Greenhorn Drive #100, Pueblo, CO 81004 https://careandshare.org/give/donate/ or the American Cancer Society, 2004 Lake Ave, Pueblo, CO 81004 https://www.cancer.org/. Online condolences at www.MontgomerySteward.com