Delore Birch Burton, 93, of Sugar City, passed away on Monday, May 25, 2015 at Homestead Assisted Living Center in Rexburg. Delores born March 1, 1922 at home in Hyrum, Utah. She was the fifth and youngest child of Luella James and Holger Oliver Birch. She had four older siblings.

Delores grew up in a sleepy Utah town with dusty, quiet streets. Money was scarce but life was rich. Her mother made and remade clothes and Mom remembers underpants made out of flour sacks and jump roping until her boots were worn out. She recalls being the first girl to wear pants.

School was important and Delores excelled and she was moved ahead a grade. It was during grade school that she met her best friend, Flora Maughan (Obray), and they became inseparable companions.

Delores attended Utah State Agricultural College during the depression. Tuition was $90. She enjoyed college, which typified her life-long love of learning. Delores worked in the college library making $.30 an hour. "I really enjoyed working at the library…It was also there I met my future husband. I always said that I checked out books and he checked out a lot of books." She thought he was the "cutest thing ever."

WWII broke out during her junior year so Delores and Flora graduated with a three-year Normal Degree and started teaching school in Neola, Utah. "We went there and had a blast but one year was enough." The mice were "awful" in Neola. Mother would set the traps and Flora would empty them every night. Mom had a life-long disgust of mice.

After Neola, Delores worked for a short time at the Remington Army Plant in Salt Lake City packing machine gun belts with 50 caliber shells for the war effort.

On July 8, 1943, Delores married Albert Winter Burton in Peyote, Texas as Dad was expecting to be shipped out, but with an unexpected 10-day leave they were sealed in the Logan Temple on July 19, 1943. Dad was sent overseas to England as a captain of a B-17 bomber while Mom stayed home and worked and lived with her parents in Hyrum.

After WWII, and Burton's Service in the Army Air Corp ended they moved to Driggs, Idaho where they lived while Burton taught Vocational Agriculture and then they moved to Sugar City where they lived out the rest of their lives. During this time Delores got her BS degree from Ricks College and began her career teaching school. She taught 4th grade in St. Anthony and Math and P.E. at Sugar-Salem for a total of 26 years. She was Sugar-Salem High School's first volleyball coach, where they were district champions several years in a row, and instrumental in developing the mathlete program.

While Burton always kept life exciting for Delores she was a calm, steady influence in the family with a lively sense of humor. Mom's humor was never mean, but every year she was able to convince Mark she had dyed his football uniform pink.

Delores was a member of the LDS Church. Her testimony was quiet but strong and she served as Relief Society President, a Sunday School teacher and Temple Ordinance worker. She was a member of the DUP.

Reunions in the Burton Family have always been a priority with the Island Park cabin at the center. Delores and Burton created a place where the family could be together and develop strong bonds.

Delores and Burton were married 71 years. They had five children: Sonia (Gary) Steed, Mark (Sherrie) Burton, KaraLee (Charles) Ricks, Bruce (Laura) Burton, SueLyn (Bryan) Griffin. They have 29 grandchildren, most of who were convinced they were the favorite grandchild, 57 great grandchildren with five more expected this year. Delores led a life filled with integrity, kindness, humor and love. We miss her.

Originally scheduled for Friday, funeral services will now be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30th at the Sugar City LDS Stake Center, 315 E. 3rd South, Sugar City. The family will receive friends Friday evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Flamm Funeral Home in Rexburg and again from 12 to 12:45 at the church prior to services on Saturday. Interment will be in the Sugar City Cemetery.