Elaine Marie Burnett

Elaine Marie Burnett, age 88, passed away on October 3rd, 2026, at Luna House Assisted Living. She was born on January 10th, 1938, in Mount Clare, West Virginia, to John Dexter and Laura Edalene Norman. Elaine grew up in the mining towns of West Virginia and spent most of her childhood in Hepzibah once her family purchased their home there. She was the baby in a family of 5 children and was spoiled often by her older siblings. Her brothers loved to dote on her but also teach her curse words, which she never forgot. Elaine honed her typist and shorthand skills during her high school days at Victory High School in Clarksburg. After graduating, her talent for secretarial assistance took her to Washington D.C. where she worked for a General in the Pentagon. While there she met the love of her life, Cecil Dewayne Burnett who was in the Presidential Honor Guard. They married March 10th, 1956, a partnership built on love, family, and hard work. Shortly after their wedding, Cecil and Elaine moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia, where they started their family welcoming two children: Emma Louise and William Dewayne (Bill) Burnett. In 1963, the Burnett family moved to Homedale, Idaho, Cecil's hometown. Cecil began a successful construction business and by 1975, they were able to purchase their farm in the Bend area near Adrian, Oregon with a beautiful view of Black Jack Butte, of which she would take countless photos in the glowing Sunset. In the Summer of 1976, she began working for Ted Avery making bee boxes and met her best friend, Theone Teeter Schwartz. On workdays, Elaine would make lunch for Theone, which, to Theone’s dismay, was often liver and onions. Their joint interests took them on many adventures throughout their fifty years of friendship. Around 1999, with great joy, Elaine began The Native Touch, a Native American artisanal jewelry store. Her deep love for their cultures and craftsmanship provided her opportunities to build relationships with the artists, who invited her into unique tribal experiences and Powwows. Elaine was a very talented person with a multitude of interests. (We will try to keep this brief, but honestly, she was good at a lot of things.) She made beautiful ceramics, which she fired and painted herself. She beaded many things and made intricate jewelry. She was a talented poet, often writing little limericks for her grandchildren's birthdays. She took a gun everywhere she went, and she was a crack shot; “The Gun Toting Grandma”. She loved homesteading, camping, canning, hunting, butchering, cheesemaking, gardening, raising the largest turkeys known to man, and making her own wine, a favorite being her dandelion wine. She loved her family and was fascinated by the history and genealogy of her and Cecil’s roots. She spent countless hours digging into the mysteries of their ancestors. She was a very, very sweet, ornery Grandma, and made sure her grandchildren felt loved even 1000 miles away. She often sent care packages with little treats and treasures, and pirated Disney movies, Westerns and Musicals for them on low grade VCR tapes that they all came to cherish. She was loved and will be missed by all that knew her. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Laura Edalene Norman, her siblings, Fred, Percy, Jim, and Betty, and her beloved Husband, Cecil. Elaine is survived by her daughter Emma (Curt) Petersen, and son Bill (Sherri) Burnett, 12 grandchildren, and 21 great grandchildren. Services will be held at Flahiff Funeral Home in Homedale, Idaho at 10:00 am on Monday, Oct 12th, interment following at Homedale Marsing Cemetery. A special potluck in her honor will take place at Wilder Church of God, the preceding Sunday, Oct 11th, at approx. 12:30PM.