12
obituaries/in other words
march5
2020
In Memory of...
Levi W. Burton
July 23, 2002 - February 19, 2020
Levi W. Burton, a lifelong resi-
dent of Vernonia, went to be with the
Lord Wednesday, February 19, 2020.
He was 17.
Levi Wayne Burton, the son
of Tom and Leah (Andrews) Burton,
was born July 23, 2002 in Tualatin, Or-
egon. While he had attended Vernonia
Elementary and Vernonia High School,
his mother had also home schooled him
along with his brother and sister. Levi
was a member of the Vernonia High
School Logger Bots Team and was se-
lected to be one of the captains. He loved
robotics; one might even say it was his
sport.
Levi loved the Lord. He was
extremely excited and passionate about
sharing the Word of God and praying
with and for others.
He was passionate in his love for
the Lord and often times would speak of
becoming a pastor when he grew up. He
absolutely loved and adored his church
family.
Levi was always happy hunting
with his father, tracking through the for-
est surrounding Vernonia and catching
pictures of wildlife on his game camera.
Levi enjoyed shooting guns, includ-
ing his beloved potato cannon. He had
a huge love for black coffee. He was a
sponge for facts, an avid reader of sci-
ence and technology, and would occa-
sionally take joy in a good debate. He
loved playing video games for hours
on end with his gamer crew and could
often be heard laughing and shouting at
his monitor. He had a wicked sense of
humor, and excellent taste in music. He
had a huge love for walks and black cof-
fee with his friend Ellie. He was into
the great classics, such as Poison, Def
Leppard, and Queen and was excited
about seeing Ozzy this coming sum-
mer with his Dad. Levi cherished long
drives, late night chats and Chick Fil A
with his mother. He and his mother had a
very unique and unbreakable bond. They
shared countless good memories and en-
dured through the tough times together.
She was always by his side, and him
by hers. His brother Sam never missed
a chance to wrestle with his much big-
ger brother. His sister Emily was always
up to sneak out of bed to watch a show
or sit and talk with Levi until the wee
hours of the morning. He was a hero to
his brother and sister, even through the
endless teasing and practical jokes. His
grandfather Wayne will tell you that
Levi was a bright light right from the
beginning. And his Grandmother Bobbi
claims Levi was the most giving, selfless
young man she knew, literally sacrific-
ing his comfort to help her in her recent
back surgery. He loved fiercely and was
loved greatly.
He will be missed beyond mea-
sure by many; his parents, Tom and Leah;
his sister Emily and his brother Sam; his
special friend Ellie Brewer; his grand-
parents, Wayne and Bobbi Andrews;
all of Vernonia; and his grandparents,
Ralph and Penny Sackhoff of Crooked
River Ranch, Oregon; and several aunts,
uncles, and cousins throughout Oregon.
A Celebration of Life Service
will be held on March 7, 2020, at 11:00
am, in Vernonia, Oregon, at Grace Fam-
ily Fellowship. Pastor Paul Pastor, PJPM
House Church, of Portland, will offici-
ate the service. Levi loved the fellow-
ship of community gatherings, and we
invite family, friends, and all who were
touched by Levi to share in a potluck re-
ception immediately following the cer-
emony at Grace Family Fellowship.
In remembrance of Levi, con-
tributions may be made to the Vernonia
Logger Bots, team 4127 at Vernonia
High School.
To sign the online guest book or
to send a condolence to the family go to
www.fuitenrosehoyt.com.
Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral
Home in Forest Grove is entrusted with
the arrangements.
was seventeen years old.
Seventeen. Damn.
There’s just a gigantic black
hole of THAT’S NOT RIGHT! staring
back at me every time I think of that
wonderful kid, gone at seventeen.
Here’s how I met Levi:
One night, after closing, Levi
popped his head through the back door
of the bakery and introduced himself.
I think he was picking up an order for
his family, or maybe he was meeting a
friend who worked with us.
Whatever the reason, I returned
his greeting and said “Levi! Nice to meet
you, you want a job?” I wasn’t even kid-
ding – we really needed a dishwasher.
“Yes please,” he replied imme-
diately.
I was a little surprised and to-
tally thrilled. I asked him to come back
the next morning at ten.
He was there at nine. Perfect.
I was so lucky to have Levi. He
was a great worker – hunching over our
short sinks for hours without complaint.
I knew he was in pain and standing could
be difficult, we shared that. I made sure
he was taking care of himself, but he was
a total trooper.
He was a master of the dish pit,
but my favorite memory is pizza night.
I get a little frazzled on pizza
nights. Changing over from bakery to
pizzaria is challenging. It takes some
time to get the ovens up to temp and
longer for the pizza stones to soak up
all that heat. Then there’s the veggies
to slice and chop, the sauce to setup, and
the dough to toss and stretch and flip.
All the while collecting orders and figur-
ing out the baking strategy.
Usually by the third or fourth
pie I’m in a groove, but those first couple
are a bit like the Three Stooges warming
up to play a symphony on ice during the
Stanley Cup.
And Levi stepped right into piz-
za night, right onto the ice, and got ev-
erything playing the same tune and skat-
ing together in harmony. He was smooth
like that.
We rocked out a record-break-
ing pizza night.
I loved working with Levi and
it was a tough conversation when he had
to step back from work and take care of
his physical difficulties. I told him he al-
ways had a place at the Hobo Bakery and
he could come back as soon as he was
ready.
It’s hard to believe he won’t be
coming back. I’m looking at that big
black hole again…
Of course it’s not right to lose
a sweet kid at only seventeen. It’s not
fair. But what happened next is how
we all keep going on.
It’s the people of this great town
that joined together in love and sup-
port for the Burton family. Donations
were gathered at businesses across
town and, for us, poor sweet Katie ral-
lied the Hobo team to rock out a record
supply of those Happy Jacks.
We sold out of cookies before
we even had them decorated, and that
didn’t stop people from giving. And
with each donation we got to meet new
people whose life Levi touched.
Just when we got our tears back
in check, the next loving person would
come in and get us all going again!
I think that’s how we get through
this. We gather together to share our love
and our loss with each other, and we do
something nice for someone else. And
we tell stories that keep the person alive
and with us forever.
This is one I heard from Katie:
Levi came in one day with a
little device sticking in one ear. I’m a
sensitive boss and thought “...jeeze! the
poor damn kid needs a hearing aid too!”
so I said nothing, so as not to embarrass
him.
But Katie noticed he was in the
dish pit talking to himself and quickly
deduced it was a Bluetooth headphone.
“Are you wearing a Bluetooth at
work?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Levi replied, “I don’t
think I can stand to hear any more Beasty
Boys!”
Oh man! Who’s embarrassed
now!?!?
At least he didn’t mention
Springsteen…
Levi will always have a place at
the Hobo Bakery. I am very blessed that
I got to know him and work with him
(despite his questionable musical prefer-
ence).
Hobo forever.
Well that’s all I have from the
Hobo Corner this month. Thank you all
for your time and patience.
Peace and Happy Happy Toast-
ing!
The Hobo Corner: Happy Jacks
By Jack Kauppila
Hey Everyone
- It’s Jack here, from
the Hobo Bakery in
Vernonia, my new
hometown.
Maybe you’ve seen their bright
yellow icing shining from the pastry
case; maybe you’ve seen a kid smiling
ear to ear with teeth dyed black from
the frosted eye-patch. This is the Happy
Jack sugar cookie and it’s one of my fa-
vorite things we make at the bakery.
It’s a smiley face sugar cookie
with an eye patch. Funny, right? And so
so tasty!
The concept was a team effort,
it takes the whole Hobo Team to make
them, and even the name came from
our extended Hobo family (was it you
Shawn?) when someone pointed to the
case and said “...and I’ll take two of
those ‘Happy Jacks’.”
It stuck.
But it was with great sadness
that we offered our cookies last week-
end as a fundraiser for the family of Levi
Burton, a Hobo Team member who died
from complications from surgery. He
A Trusted Name in Funeral Service
Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt
Funeral Home & Crematory
2308 Pacific Ave.,
Forest Grove
503-357-2161
741 Madison Ave.,
Vernonia
503-429-6611
Jeff & Kathryn Hoyt
Angel
Memorials
Headstones
Granite Markers & Monuments
971-344-3110
Forest Grove Memorial Chapel
503-357-3126
Locally owned in Vernonia
Serving NW Oregon
All Cemeteries Accepted
Order drawing at no charge online
To sign the online guest book or to send a
condolence to the family go to
www.fuitenrosehoyt.com
www.angelmemorialsheadstones.com
Family Owned & Operated
Formerly Prickett’s Mortuary
Where Do You Read The Voice?
Show us where you have traveled.
Submit your photo and brief description to:
scott@vernoniasvoice.com