Phyllis N Burt

Phyllis Nadine Burt, beloved mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully in Carmichael on June 2, 2024. She was 85 years old. She was born Phyllis Nadine Jones in 1939 in Theodosia, Missouri, a small Ozark County village which was also the hometown of the Hilary Swank character in “Million Dollar Baby.” Mart and Lora Jones had four daughters: Wilma, Gerry, Maudine, and baby Phyllis. Phyllis was a tomboy who loved to fish and learned poker sitting on her dad’s lap. She aspired to be either a race car driver or a professional wrestler when she grew up, but despite her legendary stubbornness, those were not yet valid career options for women. Had she been born later, she might be famous as Phyllis the Missouri Mule, headlining with Dwayne The Rock Johnson.

The family moved to the Sacramento area in the 1950’s and Phyllis graduated from McClatchy High School in 1957. She went to beauty school where she caught the eye of fellow student Chris Williams. He spotted her by a drinking fountain and reportedly said “Who is THIS tall drink of water?”. Phyllis and Chris married at the beauty school as they couldn’t afford a more lavish venue. They had three sons: Lance, Dain and Eric. Before they settled into domesticity, however, they owned a beatnik coffeehouse called the Iron Sandal on Broadway in Sacramento. Phyllis played steel guitar and Chris played the bongos. Sadly, no recordings exist of their musical and/or spoken word performances. Family legend has it that the City of Sacramento was not ready for beatniks, and they were shut down after serving a drink with lemon extract, which allegedly had alcohol in it.

Phyllis worked as a hairdresser for 35 years and then went to work for the Department of Motor Vehicles, or “Motor V” as she called it. Her nieces have fond memories of her as a fun aunt organizing them into bowling teams and driving them around the country for tournaments. They also accompanied her on regular road trips to Lodi to buy her favorite Dr. Pepper, which at the time was not for sale in Sacramento. (Fun fact: Lodi is reportedly the inspiration for the fictional town of Charming, California, in the FX motorcycle drama Sons of Anarchy.) Phyllis knitted, golfed, played softball, and hosted Super Bowl parties. She custom made special occasion cakes as a hobby and made the wedding cakes for her sons’ weddings.

Phyllis found love a second time and married Larry Burt, who was known as Papa Larry to her grandchildren. Phyllis doted on her grandchildren. She took her eldest granddaughter Crystal on a trip to Disney World and the Bahamas. Crystal’s favorite day trip was to Gatorland in Florida, where overall-wearing men named Jethro and Bubba put on a show feeding frozen chickens to a pit of gators, and she even got to pet one of them! Mikaylyn and Mason so loved her biscuits and gravy that she cooked up an army-sized batch to bring whenever she visited them. Phyllis often fondly remembered large family gatherings from her childhood, and she never did learn the knack of cooking for one person. Dain was the main beneficiary of this, as when he worked up in Lake Tahoe, she would send him off with jugs full of clam chowder or beef stew.

Phyllis and Larry enjoyed playing cards, trips to Reno casinos, and taking cruises. Larry preceded Phyllis in death and is also buried at Mt. Vernon.

Phyllis is survived by her sons Lance Williams, Dain Williams (Elaine), and Eric Williams (Krissy); grandchildren Crystal Dodds-Donnelly (Shawn Donnelly) , Mikaylyn Gardner (Gabriel) and Mason Williams; great-grandchildren Andrew Donnelly, Aidan Donnelly, and Jaxsen Williams.

The family wishes to express their thanks and appreciation to the staff at Atria El Camino Gardens, for the loving care they provided to Phyllis in her final years.