Burton Tolbert Bearden

Burton Tolbert Bearden, 96, of Amarillo and formerly of Pampa, died Monday, June 30, 2014 in Amarillo. Memorial services will be at 11:00 AM Thursday, July 3, 2014, at Carmichael-Whatley Colonial Chapel in Pampa, with John Curry, officiating. Private burial will be in Fairview Cemetery in Pampa under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors. Mrs. Bearden was born August 12, 1917 in Roberts County to W. S. and Ariana McAfee Tolbert, and was the granddaughter of A. B. and Bush McAfee, both early day pioneering families. Burton married Jeff D. Bearden in 1941 in Pampa. He preceded her in death in 1989. She was a homemaker. She was a member of First United Methodist Church, and the Twentieth Century Study Club, and she loved to play bridge. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Mildred Tolbert and Frances McMurray. Survivors include two daughters, Martha Bearden of Houston, and Mary M. Bearden and husband Sterling K. Adams of Amarillo; and three nieces, Kay Andrews of Haskell, Oklahoma, Anna Bush Crews of Taos, New Mexico and the United Kingdom, and Carole Crews of Taos, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be sent to Pampa Senior Citizens Center, P.O. Box 475, Pampa, Texas 79066-0475; Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, 2503 4th Street, Canyon, Texas 79015; or a favorite charity. The family will receive friends from 6:00-7:30 PM Wednesday, July 2, 2014, at Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Home in Pampa.