Ernie Zan Burton

Ernie was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was preceded in death by his mother Ilene Burton, his father Jack V. Burton and his brother Jack R. Burton. Ernie passed away peacefully on October 18, 2023 surrounded by his family. Survived by his wife Melba Burton, son Jason Burton and daughter-in-law Brandye Burton, daughter Dawn Turlak and son-in-law Rob Turlak, Brother Jay Burton and sister-in-law Alleta Burton, grandson Trent Burton, granddaughter Raven Tillman and many nieces and nephews.

Ernie met his wife, Melba on January 3, 1970 in a classic area of downtown Houston called “Love Street”. He told his brother that she was the woman he would marry. They were married June 30, 1972. The birth of his 2 children, Jason and Dawn, completed his love of family. He was very proud of his daughter Dawn, in her accomplishments with swim team, dance and drill team as well as his son Jason, with accomplishments in both baseball and basketball.

Ernie worked for 36 years for the U S Postal Service retiring in 2009. During his career he worked primarily with the registered mail unit working with postal inspectors and receiving many letters of recognition. He was also a certified job instructor for new hires.

His love of baseball led to his desire to coach his son in T-Ball. Ernie was very involved in the operation of Northwest 45 Little League to include field maintenance and coaching his son’s teams. This led to the training of becoming an accomplished umpire which was a natural progression from Little League to High School to College games. As Ernie’s career progressed, he was selected to umpire the Texas High School State Tournament in 2000 and again in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, he was selected to umpire the Houston High School All Star Game. Also in 2009, Ernie umpired the youth tournament at Cooperstown, New York, with young boys from the entire United States. Ernie had the opportunity to umpire teams that included many young talents that eventually became professional baseball players. Among them were Josh Beckett, Lance Berkman, David Murphy, Kyle Drabek, Chad Fox, Scott Kazmir and Troy Patton.

Ernie was well known and respected as a teacher and trainer for future umpires and also gained the respect of many High School Coaches. He mentored and evaluated and taught numerous classes over the years through the Texas Association of Sports Officials, TASO. Ernie was nominated by the Houston Chapter of TASO to receive the Honorary Life Member Award, 1989 through 2017. He was instrumental in the TASO scholarship program and worked with other umpires in the selection of candidates for scholarships.

Ernie’s legacy will be remembered for his dedication to family and friends as well as his willingness to help anyone in need. We really lost a man of character and high moral standard as he worked hard, played hard and thoroughly loved life. He will be greatly missed!!

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ernie Burton TASO Scholarship fund.

A celebration of life for Ernie will be held Saturday, November 11, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Kingwood Methodist Church, 1799 Woodland Hills Drive, Houston, Texas 77339.

Check in the Mail: Ernie Burton Scholarship Foundation

% of Kevin Ellis

3814 Pecan Lane

Mont Belvieu, TX. 77523

Credit Card with PayPal: http://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet

[email protected]

Please make sure any check or PayPal entry is marked

"ERNIE BURTON SCHOLARSHIP FUND"

Your thoughtfulness and generosity are greatly appreciated by the Burton Family!"

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.CalvaryHillFuneralHome.com for the Burton family.