Francis Lee Burks, 91, of Saline City, died Monday, January 6, 2025 at The Living Center in Marshall.
Funeral services will be Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Saline City, with Pastor Walt Snyder officiating. Burial with military honors will be in Sunset Gardens Cemetery in Marshall, with Tom Hinken, Melissa Mendoza, Jennifer Stankevicius, Eric Burks, Jeremiah Burks, Joshua Burks, Lindsay Robbins, and Jack Robbins (in memory of Joel Burks) serving as pallbearers. Visitation will be Saturday from 10:00 until 11:00 A.M. at the church. Memorials are suggested to the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Saline City, or Big Bend Retreat, in care of Weiker Funeral Home in Slater.
Francis is survived by his wife of seventy-one years, Bonnie Brame Burks; four children, Edward Burks (Conni) of Lee’s Summit, Nina Hinrichs (Ted) of Blue Springs, Matthew Burks (Karen) of Sedalia, and Michael Burks (Elaine) of Grain Valley; seven grandchildren, Tom Hinken, Melissa Mendoza, Jennifer Stankevicius, Eric Burks, Jeremiah Burks, Josh Burks, and Lindsay Robbins; three step-grandchildren, Alison Woodhead, Jonathan Limback, and Mary Limback Heyer; fourteen great-grandchildren, Mason, Chloe, Grayson, Madelyn, Hudson, Kolton, Phoenix, Blake, Adrianna, Trinity, Kendall, Bradley, Wyatt, and Keagan; and six step-great-grandchildren, Cody, Alijah, Angelica, Alexis, Zion, and Alaris. He was preceded in death by his parents, Luther Abner Burks and Edna Leimkuehler Burks; a brother Floyd Burks; and a grandson, Joel Burks.
He was an active member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Saline City, where he and his four children were baptized. Schooling began in Saline City’s red brick one room schoolhouse. He was a 1951 graduate of Slater High School, where he played football, served as the football team captain, excelled academically, and met his future wife, Bonnie. After graduation, he attended Central Missouri State College, before marrying and serving in the Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Francis worked as a house painter for several years, while trapping in the winter to support his growing family. In Marshall, he began his twenty-nine-year career with Sears, serving in various management positions that relocated his family to Kansas City and Sedalia. After retirement at age 59, he and Bonnie moved back to his family’s roots in Saline City. They built their home where he enjoyed living off the land, gardening, swinging on the porch, chopping wood, managing the farm, raising cattle, hunting, fishing, collecting Indian arrowheads, and being self-sufficient on the land he grew up on. The grandkids all loved time spent with Grammy and Grampy.
In 2019, the Central Missouri Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) recognized Francis for twenty-three years of outstanding service when he resigned from the Board of Directors.
High points of each year included opening weekends of deer season, mushroom hunting, potato planting and digging, birthday celebrations, traveling to see family and REC conferences, Christmas gatherings with the extended family, and taking grandkids on tractor rides. Francis will always be remembered for his humor, strong work ethic, and the faithful loving care he provided for all of his family.