Verna Anita Burton

With heartfelt honor, we celebrate the life and legacy of our dear eldest sister, Verna Anita Burton, fondly known as “Vernita” to some and to all who knew her as a Kingdom believer, Mother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, cousin, friend, and communicator.

With a humble yet endearing beginning, Verna was born February 4, 1953, in Stuttgart, Arkansas to O. D. and Katie Scaife Burton, a sharecropper and a devoted wife who welcomed six children to their union.  On March 22, 2024, a little over a month after her 71 years of life on earth, she peacefully departed her earthly vessel to the promised reward of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Verna began her education during the years of segregation at Biscoe Elementary and Biscoe Junior High School.  During the Fall of 1969, the mandate for Arkansas to integrate schools caused the Biscoe school system to be closed and all of the Black students enrolled at Biscoe were transferred to the De Valls Bluff school system.  She completed her studies and graduated from De Valls Bluff High School in the spring of 1971.  Verna had a natural talent for creating and cooking delicious dishes and invested her talent at a culinary school in Memphis, Tennessee after graduation.

Verna was the proud mother of one son, Temone D. Piggie who remained her pride and joy.  Additionally, she was blessed to be the grandmother of two lovely granddaughters, Destiny Piggie and Tamia Moppin.  Saved as a young adolescent, she introduced her son and all who came into her presence to Kingdom living with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior until called home. Verna was a lover of talking with people, learning their stories and then sharing encouragements and wisdom for each person in her presence to consider.  She was quick to call you out when it came to the word of God, yet her quirky sense of humor and joyful little laugh were a constant part of each visit and time spent with her.  In our Burton village, Verna was the sister who at one time or another, we all counted on to babysit her nieces and nephews from the eldest nephew whom we fondly call Bug, to Kesha, Treloni, Pashion, Dwayna and Brandon.

Verna was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Sam and Evelyne Burton and her maternal grandparents, Henry and Willie Mae Scaife; her mother Katie Scaife Burton, a nephew Kengie Burton, and a brother-in-law, Richard Flournoy. 

Verna leaves to cherish her memory, her son and granddaughters, her father O. D. Burton, her five siblings Shirley Flournoy of Jonesboro AR, Orlando (Gwen) Burton, Sr. of St. Louis MO, Min Albert Burton of Marvell AR, Beverly (Sterling) Chandler of North Little Rock AR, and Dr. Anise Mastin of Atlanta GA, her only surviving uncle, James Scaife of Stuttgart AR and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

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