Graveside services for Ruth Burns, 93, Clovis, NM will be held Thursday, September 8th, 10:00am at Portales Cemetery with Rev. Jeb Archey oficiating. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lighthouse Mission in Clovis, P.O. Box 297, Clovis, New Mexico 88101.
Ruth Burns was born Mary Ruth White to Rose Powers White and Robert E. “Eddie” White on Mar. 11, 1929 in Portales, New Mexico. She died peacefully after a short illness in Clovis on Aug. 30, 2022. She was the granddaughter of pioneer settlers R. L. (Bob) and Ora Wood of Portales. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Clovis.
Ruth completed her school years in the Portales Schools and then attended Eastern New Mexico University, earning her Master’s degree in Bilingual Education. She studied at the Universidad in Saltillo, Mexico before beginning to teach in the experimental Early Childhood Bilingual Nursery School in Clovis. She later taught the second grade Bilingual class at La Casita Elementary School, which was the first Bilingual program in the Clovis School System. During this time, she served on the New Mexico State Bilingual Advisory Committee.
Ruth and Michael Dan Burns were married in Portales in 1951. They owned and operated Burns Wholesale Company in Portales which supplied restaurants and grocery stores in Portales and surrounding areas. They did business out of their garage in the beginning and later purchased a building on Ave C where they operated four delivery trucks and vans with five employees. They remained there until 1978 when they sold the business and moved to Clovis. Ruth supported her husband Mike in his position as a member of the Portales City Council for fifteen years and Mayor for four.
Ruth loved history and followed her mother Rose White in trying to preserve the history of Eastern New Mexico. She wrote articles for various historical publications and local newspapers. In 2012 she published the book, “A Man Was a Real Man in Them Days, Pioneers of the Llano Estacado, 1860 to 1900,” using her mother’s interviews with first settlers along with additional research.
She also loved children, nature, small wildlife, reading and music, especially opera, and traveled to Santa Fe every year to attend the opera until health problems intervened. She was never happier than when reading to her grandchildren or observing with them some snake or spider in the back yard.
She is survived by their children, Mike Jr. (Jo) of Clovis, Patrick (Jackie) of Portales, Ike (Tonya) of Laredo, Texas and Becky of Waco, Texas, daughter-in-law, Karen Burns of Clovis, five grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren, sisters-in-laws Nadine White (Bob) of Allen, Texas and Una Vee White (Jim) of Las Cruces. She was preceded in death by her husband Michael Dan Burns, who died Nov. 4, 1995, as well as brothers, R. E. White Jr., James Gordon White, and her parents and grandparents. Ruth’s family thanks her caregivers Estela, Summer, Debbie, Yolanda, Alyxandria, and Robbie for the excellent care they provided for her.
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