Ms. Edythe Burton This is Me

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1. 1. 01/01/04 - Edythe Burton

   www.citizenet.com/news/article - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/1/2004   Last Visited: 1/2/2004

   Edythe Burton
   ...
   "It makes you feel good when you can do something for someone else," says Edythe Burton, who continues to volunteer at Fauquier Hospital's gift shop.
   ...
   A holiday tradition, 77-year-old Ms. Burton makes candy with her grandchildren. She began baking peanut brittle, white chocolate with cranberries and chocolate-covered peanuts with her late husband Burt.
   ...
   Since 2000, Ms. Ifert has volunteered at the shop with Ms. Burton.
   ...
   Ms. Burton became a hospital volunteer 44 years ago. Family-oriented, she leads by example and gives back to her community.
   
   "It makes you feel good when you can do something for someone else," Ms. Burton said.
   
   Reflecting on her service, she said: "I don't think I've done that much."
   
   Perhaps that's an understatement.
   
   For 12 years, Ms. Burton has worked at Fauquier hospital's gift shop. Suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, she volunteers at the shop just one day a week. She also participates in the Bethel Lunch Bunch at Bethel Methodist Church in Warrenton.
   
   In the past, she has inspired teens to join the hospital's Candy Stripers, a volunteer youth group. Ms. Burton also has managed the hospital snack bar.
   ...
   Ms. Burton chooses not to take things too seriously. She laughs and keeps things light because it inspires those around her.
   
   "You gotta have humor in the hospital," Ms. Burton said. "If you didn't, you couldn't survive."
   
   Born and raised in Fauquier, Ms. Burton attended the old Warrenton Elementary School when it was on High Street. She went to Warrenton High School on Waterloo Street.
   
   In 1944, she worked as an operator at C&P (now AT&T) until she became pregnant with her second daughter.
   
   As a telephone operator, Ms. Burton learned the fine art of patience. Some may call it a virtue.
   
   "Those were the good old days," she said.
   ...
   Ms. Burton knows what to do for most people. When she doesn't, she finds someone who does.
   
   Before she worked in the gift shop, Ms. Burton volunteered at the snack bar for 15 years. Eventually, she became the manager.
   
   Nearly everyone remembers her famous chicken salad.
   
   "I picked the chicken every Wednesday," she said.
   ...
   It seems everyone at Fauquier Hospital knows Ms. Burton.
   ...
   Whether listening to a bereaved family member or helping someone at the shop, Ms. Burton always reaches out to others.
   
   "You meet people you would never know," she said about her long-tenured service at the hospital. "That's how you get to know people."
   
   Ms. Wood and Ms. Burton worked together in the gift shop and now are friends.
   ...
   The hospital's volunteer group, the Pink Ladies, inspired Ms. Burton when she was a patient at the hospital.
   
   "They were so nice when I was in there, I decided then I would become a volunteer."
   
   She first managed the 13- to 16-year-old members of the hospital's Candy Stripers.
   
   "The junior volunteers give of themselves without expecting pay," Ms. Burton said. "It's good for them."
   
   She believes she has influenced young people along the way, including Bunny Grant, who works as a registered nurse in the emergency room. Ms. Burton helped Ms. Grant earn a college scholarship.
   ...
   And Ms. Burton encouraged the nurse to come back to Fauquier Hospital.
   
   Ms. Burton remains a recognizable fixture at the hospital, according to hospital volunteer Ruth Beech.