Armond "Sid" Sidney Burton Jr.

An educator, acclaimed basketball coach, and sports enthusiast, Sid was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather.

Born Sept. 27, 1931, in Bartlesville, he was the only child of Armond and Hollie Burton. He graduated high school in 1949 and earned an undergraduate degree in education at Phillips University in Bartlesville. While attending Phillips, he caught the eye of fellow student Janis “Jan” Fairbanks. Jan always said she spotted him playing basketball in the gym one day and determined right then that he was the man she would marry. Upon graduating from Phillips, the couple wed on June 14, 1953. They celebrated 61 years of marriage a few months before Jan’s death in 2014.

Sid did a two-year stint in the U. S. Army. While he was stationed in Germany, Jan gave birth to their first child, daughter Charity. A few years later, the couple welcomed their son, Butch.

Sid’s sports career spanned more than 30 years including coaching jobs at Enid Junior High School, College High School in Bartlesville, Del City High School, and Rose State College. In Bartlesville, Sid led the College High basketball team to a Triple AAA state championship in 1967. It is considered one of the great high school upsets in modern sports history. His coaching style and relationship with the championship team, along with his travails dealing with meddlesome, powerful executives at the Phillips Petroleum Co., are memorialized in the book “Sid and the Boys: Playing Ball in the Face of Race and Big Business” by Carl McCullough.

The family settled in Norman in 1968 when Sid took a teaching and coaching job at Del City High School. While working full-time, Sid also pursued and received a master’s and doctoral degree in education at the University of Oklahoma. After nine years at Del City High School, Sid joined the faculty at Rose State College, where he coached women’s basketball and taught for 17 more years before retiring.

Sid loved all sports, especially tennis, playing almost daily until he turned 82. He gave up bi-annual snow skiing trips when he turned 72. He remained close to most of his former players and fellow coaches throughout his life. In 2013, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and in 2019, he was inducted into the Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame. Sid was a longtime member of the OBCA and the Oklahoma Coaches Association. He was a member of the First Christian Church.

An eternal optimist, Sid brightened every room he entered and usually was the life of any party. He loved doing for others and wanted nothing in return but a smile.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife. He is survived by his daughter Charity and her husband, Jimmy Burkhart; his son Butch; grandson Matt Burton; brother-in-law Wirt Trawick; three nieces and three nephews.

At his request, there will be no services.