Burnette Guthrie

Burnette Guthrie, 92, of Polson, MT died on Saturday, May 29, 2010 in her apartment overlooking Flathead Lake. She was born May 28, 1918 on the family farmstead outside Minot, North Dakota, the first child of Esther (Rustad) and Bennie Olson. She graduated from Minot High School and attended Minot State College. Burnette met James R. Guthrie at her first teaching job in Overly, North Dakota. They married on September 4, 1940 in Minot. She did substitute teaching in Starkweather, Tower City, and Willow City, North Dakota. Burnette was active in church circles, P.E.O. and Sons of Norway. She also took great enjoyment from her quilting and hardanger projects, gardening, and her love of reading. Some of her fondest memories were of summers on the farm and the peacefulness of the prairies.

Burnette's love for her family was evident by her many letters and reassuring notes of caring.

She will be missed by her surviving family members: daughter, Mary (Charles Weingarten) and sons, Roger, James (Jeannene), and Edward (Paulette): 12 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren: brothers, Harlan (Lillian), Arthur, Kenneth (Esther), Gordon (Helen), and Curtiss Olson. Burnette was preceded in death by her husband, James and brothers, Richard and Vernon Olson, and her sister, Eldrice Van Sickle.

A memorial service celebrating her life will by held at 10:30 AM, Monday, June 7, 2010 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Polson. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church or First Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota. Burnette's final resting place will be by her husband, James, in Sunset Memorial Gardens in Minot.