Deceased September 18, 2019
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In memory
Donald Peck Burt, of Morristown, N.J., passed away in hospice Sept. 18, wrapping up a full, active life as doctor and family man. He died peacefully with family by his side.
Don attended Collegiate School in NYC, graduated from Storm King School in Cornwall-On-Hudson, NY in1940. Following in the footsteps of his father Wilbur F. Burt 1912 and his brother older brother, Wilbur Burt Jr. ’43, Don went onto Amherst College yet charted his own path with pre-med studies. Don majored in biology, played varsity tennis and joined Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Following his 1944 graduation, he continued studies at the Long Island College School of Medicine through 1946, interned at Multnomah Hospital in Oregon and completed his residencies at Methodist Hospital in the Bronx VA Hospital and Bellevue in 1947. Dr. Burt served from 1947–1949 as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, attached to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb.
Don married the true love of his life, Frances “Franny” Diver in 1948. They met at the age of 13 at Buck Hill Falls, Pa., and she pursued a complementary career as a medical librarian. He also gained two Amherst brothers-in-law, Clifford P. Diver ’46 and Frank W. Diver Jr. ’50, in the deal. In 1953, Dr. Burt opened his practice in internal medicine in Morristown, N. J., where he and Franny settled to raise their family. An attending at Morristown Memorial Hospital, he established the hospital’s first pulmonary unit and served as president of the Morris County Medical Society. He practiced medicine in Morristown until his retirement 35 years later. Dr. and Mrs. Burt remained in Morris Township at their Washington Valley home until 2013, when they moved to Parker at Stonegate, an assisted-living community in Highland Park, N.J. They celebrated their 69th anniversary there before Frances passed away in May 2017.
Don is survived by his four, devoted children and their spouses. He and Franny were so proud of their eight, adoring grandchildren; and they became loving great-grandparents to three, with a fourth soon expected. They fully embraced those in their community and all their family with love—across Don’s brother, nephew Joe Burt ’76 and Franny’s seven siblings and 24 nieces and nephews, including me.
I will dearly miss, but continue to be inspired by, this remarkable man. While his body started to diminish, Don remained sharp in mind and spirit until the end. His last concern was that his family not be upset by what was happening and to stay together.
Ann M. Diver ’84