Leonard E. Burton, 76, of Hot Springs Village, AR, passed away peacefully January 29, 2023, with family members at his side. Leonard was born June 27, 1946, in Goose Creek (Bay Town), Texas to his mother, Sara Nelle Scown and his father Leonard Burton, who died shortly after his birth. Raised by his stepfather Gus Schmidt, he grew up in Houston where he graduated from Memorial High School in 1964 and subsequently from SMU in 1968. Following college, he had an 18 year career in the car business, including many years at the helm of Burton Curry Buick in Dallas. He had a second career leading Operations for a market research firm, Feedback Plus, owned by HSV residents Reb and Vickie Henry. Leonard also spent many years as a partner in Holton Systems, with his life-long friend, Paul Hollrah.
Leonard is survived by the love of his life, Liz, his two sons, Luke and Jordan, his daughters-in-love, Shannon and Amanda, his stepson, Nathan Mathieu, and brother, Al Schmidt. He had a large extended family, including 10 grandchildren that he dearly loved and who adored their Papa B.
Leonard was truly a Renaissance man. He enthusiastically pursued a broad range of interests and hobbies in his life: photography, woodworking, cooking, kayaking/canoeing, chess, darts and backgammon to name a few. But his most consistent passions were music, motorcycling and golf. He was a prolific recording artist, producing hundreds of classic country and folk recordings and authoring his own kids' songs. He was the consummate road warrior, chalking up 250,000 motorcycling miles with his beloved Liz. And he was a force to be reckoned with on the golf course, maintaining “scratch golfer” status on numerous occasions and frequently shooting under his age in recent years. He found intrinsic joy in building mastery in each domain, and delighted in sharing his experiences with others.
He will be forever missed by all who knew and loved him.
A celebration of life for Leonard will be held Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Diamanté Country Club, Hot Springs Village, AR.
In lieu of flowers please consider a contribution to American Wild Horse Campaign https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.grossfuneralhome.com for the Burton family.
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