Melva Sue (Burris) Burton, 93, passed away on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Sue was born on December 26, 1932, to Alvin Needham and Roxa Elnora (Johnson) Burris in the small community of Possum Trot, north of Oak Grove, Hot Spring County, Arkansas. She was a member of the Hot Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Sue grew up on Babcock Street in Rockport and attended Malvern Public Schools. On August 18, 1946, she met Winfred Oscar “Blackie” Burton at a Play Party held at a house on Mill Street in Malvern and he became the one, true love of her life. Sue and Blackie were married in her parents’ living room on August 28, 1949. They welcomed their first child in 1950 and three more children by 1958.

After her youngest child started school, Sue worked as a machine operator at various factories between 1965 and 1989. She loved to use her paychecks for special projects around her home, to conduct genealogy research, or, especially, to buy gifts for her children and grandchildren. Sue was an avid cook and baker, an interest ignited by her Home Economics teacher, Mrs. Claudia Mason. Sue loved vegetable gardening and landscaping her home with herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Sue kept a menagerie of feathered friends, including peafowl, guineas, and several varieties of chickens, including banties. She was a devoted chronicler of family events with photographs. After the arrival of grandchildren, Sue became the family videographer, producing thousands of hours of videotape, which she edited and rendered into movies that were shared with the family on DVDs. Her love of family led to decades of genealogical research, including multiple trips to North Carolina and Virginia to document family ancestry and to meet distant cousins.

Sue is preceded in death by her husband of 73 years, Blackie; her parents; her sister, Alma Morrison; and her brothers, Elum Burris and Mitchell Burris. She is survived by her four children, Susan Swenson, Patricia (Richard) Hall, Stephen (Rebecca) Burton, Larry (Pamela) Burton; eight grandchildren, Bethany Singletary, Tiffany Swenson, Nathan (Hilary) Hall, Aaron (Alisa) Hall, Julie (Rodney) Bowes, Kevin (Sarah) Burton, Skylar Grey (née Danielle Burton), Jeremy (Yolanda) Burton; and 18 great-grandchildren, Daisy, Alex, Kyle, Vicki, Valarie, Dean, Dexter, Evelyn, Hazel, Juniper, Jackson, Emma, William, Sierra, Adelia, John, Anora, and Zoë. Sue is also survived by her brother-in-law, Frank (Linda) Burton, sister-in-law, Margie Burton, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at the Atkinson Funeral Home Chapel in Malvern, Arkansas on Thursday, September 24, 2026, from 6:00-8:00 pm. The funeral will be held at the Atkinson Funeral Home Chapel in Malvern, Arkansas, on Friday, September 25, 2026, at 10:00 am followed by a graveside service. Pastor Richard Hall and Pastor Ron Ray will officiate. Interment will be at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in the Central community. Online condolences can be made at www.atkinsonfuneralhome.net