James R. Burton, 73, of Oak Grove, Missouri, passed away on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, at his home surrounded by loved ones. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 7th at Royer Funeral Home in Grain Valley, MO, with visitation at 10:00 a.m. followed by the memorial service at 11:00 a.m. Contributions may be made to the Leukemia Foundation.
Jim was born April 17, 1950, to Keith and Iris (Turner) Burton in Sedalia, Missouri. He was the oldest of 3 children and graduated from Raytown High School. Jim married the love of his life, Susie (Beltz) on May 23, 1969. He served in the Army from 1969 to 1972. He studied combat missiles and was an Expert Marksman, receiving the National Defense Service Medal. Jim and Susie began their life together in Huntsville, Alabama, then were deployed to Kitzingen, Germany, where they shared many memories and adventures. After returning from overseas, Jim taught math at the Electronics Institute and then became a Senior Systems Engineer and did extensive traveling around the country.
Jim and Susie built a beautiful life together and touched so many lives with their love and generous ways. They are a true example of how to live life to the fullest.
Jim leaves behind his loving wife and best friend, Susie, daughter Tammie, son Ben (daughter-in-law Lisa), and 3 grandchildren he truly adored, Dalton, Tanner, and Ruby. He also leaves behind a sister, LeeAnn Beltz (brother-in-law Bob) and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and good friends.
Obituary submitted by the family.
Arrangements: Royer Funeral Home, Grain Valley, MO 816-847-4441
Tammie Burton
8 Dec 2023Dad,
Christmas will be here soon and it will be 3 months since we lost you. Everyday, Mom, Tanner, Dalton and I miss you and reminisce about all of the fun times we had together. You are the best husband, dad and grandfather we could ever ask for. Thank you for the pennies from heaven and for all of the signs you have sent to us letting us know you are looking out for us. Our hearts are breaking not having you here with us. We will always be the Fab 5 and we take you with us wherever we go. Please hear our prayers and we all love you very much! Love you forever, Tam Tam
Tammie Burton
17 Apr 2024Dad,
Happy 74th birthday! Oh, how I wish you were here so I could make your favorite chocolate cake and get you the traditional flashlight gift. I always had so much fun finding you a flashlight that was not like any you had ever had! I found one in the pocket of your jacket the other day and the fish one in your desk. You always appreciated any gift you were given. Mom, Tanner, Dalton and I miss you EVERY single day. We will all be together this coming Saturday to celebrate you and your birthday. We hope you know how much we love you and think about you everyday. Thank you for protecting us and guiding us still. Love you forever, Tam Tam
Tammie Burton
17 Jun 2024Happy Father’s Day, Dad,
Today was such a sad day for us. We all miss you so very much! I really missed shopping for you and picking out a card that told you how much you mean to me. You have always been the best Dad to me and a wonderful Grandpa to Tanner and Dalton! Everyday we feel the pain of losing you. Mom, Tanner, Dalton and I will ALWAYS have a broken heart with you not here with us. Thank you so much for all of the signs you have sent us and for continuing to guide us and protect us! We went to Manhattan to release a balloon for you and Tanner attached one of your favorite flies you used to like to fish with! We also sat in the courtyard at Jardine and lit some of your flashlights and talked to you. I really hope you heard us.
I love you more than words can say Dad. Love, Tam Tam
Tammie Burton
26 Sep 2024Dad,
It is 1 year ago today that we lost you. Tanner and I share memories of you everyday. We love and are comforted by the many signs you send to us, especially when we need it the most. Yesterday, Tanner heard two songs on the radio. One song was about how you lived each day to the fullest and the other was a favorite song you and Tanner would play when you would go fishing in the fishing boat you both loved and made so many wonderful memories in. Last night at work, I was feeling sad, and I found the penny you sent me under my desk. It made me so happy! Tanner is coming home this next weekend and we are sending you a balloon in your honor. We appreciate you for watching over us, especially Tanner while he is away at college. Last weekend, Tanner showed me the beautiful lake that has a park bench where he sits and talks to you often. I really hope you can see and hear him. Thank you for the strength we get from you to get through the hard times and for the wisdom to figure things out. We miss you every day and we love you forever.
Love, Tam Tam
Dalton Burton
18 Dec 2024Hey Grandpa,
I really miss you, life just isn’t the same here without you. Thank you for helping me find my new best friend Katana. I really wish I could talk to you and get your advice. I hope I’m making you proud. I miss you so much and I think about you every second of every day. I love you so much.
Love,
Dalton
Tammie Burton
19 Dec 2024Dad,
I can’t believe another Christmas is here without you. Not a day has gone by without us missing you or remembering one of the million memories we have of you. Mom, Tanner, Dalton and I are so appreciative of all of the many blessings and signs you have sent our way. We know you are still with us, protecting and guiding us especially through the many times we are grieving from losing you. Thank you for keeping Tanner safe at college, for his beautiful apartment and very nice girlfriend, Erin, you sent his way. I also know you brought Mom and Dalton’s wonderful dogs, Graycie and Katana, into their lives to bring them happiness and comfort. I know you are there for me EVERY time I need my dad. You taught me so many things that help me so much as a single, independent woman and I am
forever grateful. You are with us always in everything we do and we will love and miss you forever.
Merry Christmas, Dad
I love you,
Tam-Tam
Dalton Burton
26 Dec 2024Grandpa,
Life without you is so hard. We had a good Christmas but it’s just not the same without you. I don’t mean to sound so down. Grandma, Tanner, Aunt Tam and I find comfort in each other’s company. We laugh we make memories. We are all trying as best we can. It’s just we all miss you. I’d give anything to call you on the phone again and hear your voice or to just give you a hug. Your little buddy loves you so much.
Love,
Dalton
Dalton Burton
26 Feb 2025Hey Grandbro,
Really missing you, every time something funny happens or makes me laugh I think of your laugh and it makes me smile. This still doesn’t feel real. I love you more than you’ll ever know I hope I’m making you proud.
Love,
Dalton
Dalton Burton
16 Apr 2025Grandpa,
Really missing you lately. My heart has a break in it that will never heal. I love you so much. I miss you so much and I hope you are doing ok.
Your buddy,
Dalton
Dalton Burton
17 Apr 2025Grandpa,
These birthday’s without you here don’t get any easier. I miss your laugh, I miss our talks, I miss having you here to give me advice. You are my best friend and I miss and love you so much. Have a great birthday. Say hi to Poppy, Uncle Danny, Mom, papa and mama for me.
Love,
Dalton
Tammie Burton
17 Apr 2025Happy 75th Birthday, Dad,
I can’t believe this is the 2nd birthday without you. We all grieve for you, miss you and talk about all of the wonderful times we had with you every single day. Mom bought a birthday balloon for you yesterday. Tanner is on his way home to celebrate your birthday with us. Mom, Dalton, Tanner and I are sending you birthday messages on the balloon later today. Our hearts are broken from losing you and they always will be. We see the signs you send to us and we know you are watching over us. We know you are not in pain anymore and are with Papa, Mama and Randy but we are selfish and want you here with us. We miss your humor, your laugh and your hugs. We say I love you to each other every time we are together just like you always did. You will forever be such an important and wonderful person in our lives and the center of our family. Thank you for the wonderful life you and Mom have given Tanner, Dalton and I. We will honor your memory for the rest of our lives. I hope you are doing something fun, like fishing in heaven, for your birthday! I really appreciate all of the blessings you’ve sent Tsnner at K-State fir a wonderful college experience and for sending such a kind and wonderful person like Erin to him. She will be with us on Easter so that will be fun! I’ve planned alot of games and prizes and I know you’ll be there enjoying them with us too! I hope you have an amazing birthday and we love you very much!
Love you forever,
Tam-Tam
Tammie Burton
17 Jun 2025Happy Father’s Day, Dad,
Tanner, Dalton, Mom and I honored you by going to Warsaw and visiting all of your favorite places at Truman Lake. We released a balloon with special messages for you on it over the part of Truman Lake you and Tanner fished alot. We all shared so many wonderful memories of you the whole day! Dalton watched s movie at the observatory like you and Mom always did with him when he was growing up. Mom and I remembered us going to the General Store, getting ice cream and fushing on that beautiful Rocky ledge on that last Father’s Day with you. Tanner also remembered the many times you and him also fished at Bucksaw. Everyday we all have so many wonderful memories of you and will NEVER stop missing or loving you. You will always be the heart of our family and we take you with us wherever we go. We are the Fab 5 forever!
I love you so much , Dad,
Tam Tam
Tanner Burton
16 Aug 2025Hi Grandpa,
It’s taken me awhile to be able to write something to you on here. It has been nearly 2 years and I still can’t believe that you’re not here anymore. Every day since you have been gone I have wanted to tell you things and show you things that I know you would love to hear about and see, but I always come to the horrible realization that I can’t anymore. I still talk to you in spirit and spread happy memories about you to anybody I possibly can. I will always keep your memory alive and since you have been gone I have lived this life in honor of you, trying to follow in your footsteps and fill the huge shoes you left me to fill. I feel you with me every single day helping me do just that and build a happy and healthy life for myself. Even though you aren’t with me physically, I know you will always be with me spiritually. You will live in my heart for as long as I live. I can’t tell you how excited I am to someday pass on to my children all that you have taught me and watch them grow into the best men or women they can possibly be. I know you will have a huge hand in picking them out for me, just like you have with Erin. Thank you so much for putting her into my life to help me finally feel what it’s like to truly be appreciated and loved to the fullest. I know you had a big part in sending her my way so I can’t thank you enough. You have given me countless blessings since you have been gone and I know you will continue to guide me through this crazy life. I know you will always give me the strength to carry on no matter what life throws at me. Today is Father’s Day 2025, and I want to thank you for being the one true man I could ALWAYS turn to and look up to. I couldn’t have had a better role model for myself to try and emulate. You were the funniest, kindest, hardest working, strongest, toughest, and definitely the smartest man I will ever know. I hope you are living pain free and having fun with your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and Randy. I will meet you there one day grandpa, but until that day comes I will continue to do my best to make you as proud as I can. I’m so grateful you could guide me into manhood, I use the things you taught me all of the time to help my friends and our family out, so thank you for your endless stream of knowledge that you shared with me, nothing you shared with me has gone to waste. I am blessed to have had you as my grandpa and to have even known you in this life. You will always be my fishing buddy and my best friend. I love you and miss you more than anything. As much as I love this life I am living right now, in the words of my song to you, “knowing you’ll be there, makes it easy to go home.” That couldn’t be closer to the truth. I cannot wait to see you and be with you again one day grandpa, I know you’ll be right there waiting for me and that brings me so much comfort. I love you and I’m always thinking about you, every single day. Keep me and our family safe and healthy, we all miss you so very much. Life will never be the same without you, but we live on knowing you’re watching over us. We love you, I love you, forever and always.
Love,
Tanner❤️
Tammie Burton
29 Aug 2025Hi Dad,
We can’t tell you how many times a day we think about you and miss you so much it hurts. Tomorrow is Tanner’s 24th birthday and we all wish you could be here in person to celebrate it with us but I know you will be there in spirit. There will be pictures of you and Tanner at the party because you will always be a part of every milestone, achievement or holiday we celebrate. Thank you for protecting us everyday. I know it is you who gives us these miracles we have been experiencing! Dad, you are and always will be the core of our family. We will need you and miss you forever.We always make sure you are with us on every adventure that we go on. We love you so very much! I hope you hear us when we remember all of the amazing and wonderful times we had with you! Husband, father and grandpa.. you are the best!
Love you,
Tam-Tam
Tammie Burton
26 Sep 2025Hi Dad,
Two years ago today we lost you and it still feels like it was yesterday. The grief and tears are still there for all of us. Tanner and Dalton talk about all of the things you taught them and all of the hilarious times you shared together. They are both so proud to share your name and they are both such good men because of you.
Mom and I also miss you every day and remember wonderful memories of you especially when I’m at your house drinking coffee with her just like you guys always did. Losing you was an enormous loss for all of us and we try to get through our days the best we can. You are ALWAYS with us no matter what we are doing. I know with all of my heart that any good thing or blessing that comes our way is from you. You are an extraordinary husband. dad and grandfather and you are still taking care of us. Thank you for bringing Erin into Tanners life. They really make each other happy which makes me so happy. I tell Erin that I wush she could’ve met you but I know you sent her for Tanner. Tanner, Dalton, Mom and I will never stop missing or loving you. Our hearts are broken forever. Please keep
the signs that you are still here with us in spirit coming. They makes us so happy! Thank you for always being there for us. We love you more than words can say.
Love you forever,
Tam Tam
Tammie Burton
21 Oct 2025Hi Dad,
It’s my birthday tomorrow and I’m sitting here at work thinking about you. You will never know how much I miss you telling me Happy Birthday everyday during the month of October. I read all of the birthday cards I saved from you and Mom and cherish the words you both wrote every year. Tanner, Mom, Dalton and Erin are going to make my birthday so special and fun but we all wish you were here too. We love and miss you so very much every single day. Thank you for the life you and Mom have given me. I’m very proud to be your daughter.
Love you forever, Tam-Tam
Tammie Burton
11 Nov 2025Happy Veterans Day Dad!
We hope you know how proud we have always been of you and your service in the Army. I love the fact that I am an Army brat and I’ve always loved hearing about all of the adventures you and Mom had while we were stationed in Germany and I was a baby. Your Army picture was displayed at your funeral during the military tribute and a copy of it is hanging on my wall at home because it is a representation of the wonderful and honorable man you are. Even though Mom, Tanner, Dalton and I are unable to be together today to release a balloon in your honor, we are all thinking of you and sending you our gratitude for your service and the enormous love we have for you!
We love you forever Dad,
Tam-Tam
Tammie Burton
14 Feb 2026Happy Valentines Day Dad,
How I wish you were here to celebrate Valentines day with us, especially with Mom. We miss you every single day, especially at the holidays. I gave Mom two bouquets of flowers, one from you and one from me just like I promised. I remember, even when you were too sick to go anywhere, you ordered the most beautiful bouquet of flowers for her and asked Tanner to pick them up for you. On your and mom’s wedding anniversary after you passed, Tanner gave mom a lighted forever rose in your memory as a symbol of the love and amazing marriage you and Mom shared. You are and always will be a part of everything we do because you are the the wonderful center of our family and we thank you for all of the blessings you have sent our way. We know you are still with us and watching over all of us. You mean the world to us and you are in our hearts forever! We love you so very much!
Love you forever,
Tam Tam
Tammie Burton
17 Apr 2026Hi Dad,
It’s a little after midnight and officially your 76th birthday! I really wish we were planning your party like we used to. We miss you so much everyday and especially on this special day. I really hope you are going to do something fun today in heaven surrounded by all of our loved ones who are there with you. Thinking of you and missing you bring so many tears and the grief of losing you will NEVER go away but knowing you are still protecting us and blessing us by the signs you send us, brings us comfort and smiles through our tears. Tanner is getting ready to graduate college and I have a gift for him that will make you a part of his special day. You will always be a part of everything we do or celebrate. We miss you so much, it hurts. You are very loved by all of us and we wish you a wonderful birthday!
Love you forever,
Tam-Tam