A private family memorial service for Wilma Sue Burt, 85, of rural Cooper in Greene County and formerly of Des Moines, will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, at 10:30 am at Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson.
Sue died early on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson after a heart attack.
Friends may watch the live-streamed service at https://www.facebook.com/SliningerSchroederFuneralHome/?view_public_for=105863521139107.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested for Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, of Des Moines or the Jefferson public library.
Sue was born May 6, 1935, in Chattanooga, TN, and moved to the Des Moines area as a small child. Her parents John and Edwina Olsen operated a paint and wallpaper store in the Valley Junction district of West Des Moines. Later she welcomed a sister Karen.
A 1953 graduate of Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Sue began working in the offices of local businesses and soon met Carl W. Burt of Fort Dodge. After a rapid courtship, they married in 1954 and eventually had three daughters, Tammie, Carla and Chris. Carl died in 1996.
Sue’s longtime career was as a secretary in the Des Moines Public Schools, concluding at McCombs Middle School.
She was a lifetime member of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church in the western Des Moines suburb, but for 30 years was also a founding member of Christ Lutheran Church in southern Des Moines, and, in late years, a friend of another Christ Lutheran Church, this one in Jefferson.
She was a loyal member of PEO Chapter GY, a steady reader, an enthusiastic camper with her family in Iowa’s state parks, later a bicyclist, and a dedicated baseball fan who in the 1990s and early ’00s attended games in all the Major League Baseball stadiums. For several summers, she also had season tickets for Iowa Cubs games in Des Moines. She preferred keeping her own scorecard, and did not appreciate extra-inning games.
Survivors include her daughters Tammie (John) Amsbaugh of Des Moines, Carla (Chuck) Offenburger of rural Cooper, and Christine (Tony) Woods, of Des Moines; grandchildren Carrie (Scott) Shippy, John (Jenny) Amsbaugh, Janae Jaynes (Chris) Learned, Andrew (Maria) Offenburger, Perri (Jarell) Wheaton, and Harrison Woods; and great-grandchildren Tyler Shippy, Myla Shippy, Connor Jaynes, Lindsay Offenburger, Casey Offenburger, Audrey Offenburger, Arianna Morrow, Jaida Wheaton, Cody Amsbaugh and Brady Amsbaugh; sister Karen (Dave) Wiles; niece Steffanie (Chris) Wiles-Jeffrey; other distant relatives, and many friends.
Interment will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Des Moines.
