Vernon Burton

Burton, who served the UC Davis Department of Entomology for 28 years as an Extension entomologist, died Jan. 22, 2015 at age 90 in Davis.

Burton was born June 3, 1924 in Omaha, Neb., the only child of John and Vesta Burton.  In July 1943, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and sent to Camp Adair, Ore., to a new wartime infantry division – the 70th Infantry “Trailblazer” Division.  He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was discharged in April, 1946 with the rank of technical sergeant.

He wed Charlotte McKnight and they were married for more than 66 years. He earned a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Berkeley and a master's from Louisiana State University. He spent his 38-year career with the Agricultural Extension branch of the University of California. He served 10 years as an entomology farm adviser in Bakersfield, followed by 28 years at UC Davis as an entomologist specialist.

Burton was a lifetime member of Kiwanis International and an active member of the Davis Kiwanis Club. An avid golfer, he allso loved playing bridge, family board games and reading, but mostly cherished spending time with his family. 

He is preceded in death by his parents, Vesta and John Burton, and his wife Charlotte Burton. He is survived by his daughters Maryn Mason (Bill) and Anice Isaacs (Bob); and granddaughters Kimberly Mason, Audra Anderson (Kory), Rebecca Mason, Ashley Nolan (Bowie).

Burton was known for his sense of humor and ever-present smile. At the celebration of life, plans call for a  “Putt One for Vern” contest.  In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to either The Bohart Museum of Entomology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616; The Kiwanis Family House, 2875 50th St., Sacramento, Calif. 95817; or The URC Foundation, 1515 Shasta Drive, Davis, CA 95616. Those who wish to sign a guestbook online may do so at www.wiscombefuneral.com.

In 2008, when he was 85, he was interviewed for a Department of Entomology feature story, published on Dec. 18, 2009. Vern Burton said he didn't set out to become an entomologist.  Home from the World War II battlefields, he enrolled in Compton Community College and then the University of California, Berkeley.
 
A family friend promised him a job in his termite control business once he finished his studies. His college associates, however, couldn't envision “Vern and termites” in the same sentence. Neither could he.
 
“There were better things to do in life than crawling under a house looking for termites,” quipped Burton, known for his wry sense of humor.

During his career, Burton worked with crops such as alfalfa, beans, cotton, potatoes, small grains and sugar beets and helped resolve pest problems through integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and close associations with university researchers.

Burton enjoyed working with researchers like noted alfalfa seed expert Oscar Bacon, now a retired professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. “I'd help identity problems in the field and take them back to the researchers.”
 
  “I always enjoyed helping people in ag and urban settings with their insect problems,” Burton said, “or their perceived problems.”

When Burton retired in December 1988, then Cong. Vic Fazio lauded him for his outstanding contributions to California agriculture, particularly in the field of IPM. In remarks entered into the congressional record on Jan 4, 1989, Fazio said that Burton “contributed greatly to California agriculture and to the University of California's mission for excellence in agricultural research, education and public service.”

“Mr. Burton's outstanding contributions include the development of innovative methods and strategies for nematode control in cotton, which have improved production while reducing pesticide use. He also aided in the development and establishment of treatment thresholds for green peach aphid on sugar beets and established and supervised the cotton pest management program in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1970s. That work resulted in the appropriation of permanent federal funds for an integrated pest management program.”

Other successes included “more effective and efficient control of lygus bugs and spider mites on dry beans, development of a successful pest management program on Burbank potatoes, and investigations on an aphid believed to be a serious insect pest on small grains. Mr. Burton helped prove that the aphid actually had no significant impact on grain yields and thereby insecticide use was markedly reduced.”

Fazio noted that over the years, Burton “has provided support and guidance to county programs conducted by Farm Advisors through field test pilot activities, recommendations, and suggestions for problem solutions, and printed information and participation in educational programs. He has also helped disseminate education and informative entomological information to a diverse clientele in agricultural and urban areas throughout the state.”

In the news story, IPM specialist and professor Frank Zalom was quoted: "“Vern was dedicated to California growers, and worked tirelessly to provide new and useful information to them. He understood the research-extension continuum better than most people ever could, having served the university as an extension entomologist in the county and also here on campus.”

 Also active in entomological organizations, Burton served as president and secretary-treasurer of the Northern California Entomology Club and as secretary-treasurer of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.

 Although born in Nebraska, Vern spent his childhood in several states: Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois before his father, in the tire business, moved his family to Los Angeles in 1939.

 Young Vern joined the Army fresh out of high school and completed basic training in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, where he would meet his future wife, Charlotte. 

He said his three years in the Army proved to be “a great educational experience and quite an adventure for someone just out of high school.” He landed in Marseille, France on Dec. 15, “the day the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge.  “I went overseas as a squad leader and came back as a platoon sergeant,” he recalled. 

Burton attended Compton in 1946-1948, completing lower division requirements before enrolling at UC Berkeley.   He interrupted his UC Berkeley studies in April 1951 to accept a Kern County Farm Advisor position, which he held until September 1960. He completed his 1960-1988 career an Extension entomologist based at UC Davis. 

Burton and his wife, a retired 20-year accountant with the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department, moved to the University Retirement Community, Davis, in 2004.

In his early retirement years, he served as a lieutenant governor in 1992-93 of Division 7, Kiwanis International; worked four years in the UC Davis Medical Center gift shop and helped with the Kiwanis Family House at the Med Center. He traveled with his family, played golf and fished.

A favorite activity since childhood was “to get up early and go fishing in the morning and fry it for breakfast the same day.”

Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976 and now emeritus, recalled Vern as a “dedicated scientist with a terrific sense of humor.” They shared office space with two other scientists on the third floor of Briggs Hall.

Vern claimed that bees would always single him out for special attention, Mussen said.

Said Burton: “Whenever I'd watch a honey bee demonstration in alfalfa and clover fields (which bees pollinate), honey bees would find me and deposit their stinger. I'd stay out of the fields if they just moved in the honey bees.”

“There's a place for honey bees in this world and I acknowledge that,” he said, tongue-in-cheek.

(Editor's Note: the Davis Enterprise contributed to this report. See obituary.)