Gail Karen Burton

Clearfield, UT - Gail Karen Burton graduated with honors from this life and walked confidently into eternity Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, following an almost five-year battle with metastatic breast cancer. However, it never overcame her positive attitude, never-ending love for her family, and personal relationship with Deity.

She was born Dec. 10, 1959, in Corby, Northamptonshire, England, the third child of George Albert Stanley Burton and Eleanor Dale Lawther. 

Her family immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, when she was six years old. She graduated from Southmount Secondary School and was recognized for her excellence in languages.

She attended McMaster University and Utah State University, graduating from the latter with a bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude, in French. 

In 1981, she met her future husband, Christopher Scott Williams, at a church Halloween dance in Hamilton. Gail, now a Canadian, and Chris, an American from Western New York. Neither were looking for a serious relationship, knowing Chris was planning to serve a church mission. But they continued to cross the national border to spend time together, fell in love, and continued to write each other while he served in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. They married and were sealed for time and all eternity on Sept. 6, 1984, in the Washington D.C. Temple. Gail sewed her own wedding dress, and her other skills in crocheting and knitting benefitted many family members and others.

After her marriage, she resided with Chris in many places - West Seneca, N.Y.; Logan, Utah; Sonora, California; Pocatello, Idaho; and Clearfield, Utah.

Over the years, Gail found herself in a vast array of employment, from constructing footwear, managing a gas station, working in a custom’s brokerage house, waitressing at a historic California hotel, and teaching French at Bear River High School, to working in continuing education at Utah State University, assisting in foreign translation and layout and design at Icon Health & Fitness, working in a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards program at Idaho State University, and teaching science at North Davis and Shoreline junior high schools in Davis School District.

Gail’s happy times and places include visiting relatives in Singapore; sharing and reading books aloud with her children; walking sandy beaches along the Oregon Coast; peering skyward to view the Milky Way in the Canadian Rockies of Banff, Alberta, Canada; strolling through castles in Wales; enjoying authentic fish and chips in Great Britain; loving the joy of watching Shakespeare plays with her family in Cedar City; vacationing to spend personal time with family members and distant relatives.

She is survived by her husband of 40 years; children Kevin (Avery) Williams, Salt Lake City, Utah; Kyle Williams, Buffalo, N.Y.; Gareth (Ashley) Williams, San Antonio, Texas; and daughter, Erin Williams, Clearfield, Utah; siblings Sharon Burton (Richley) Crapo, Syracuse, Utah; Vaughn (Dini) Burton, Midland, Mich.; Glenn (Jennifer) Burton, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; grandchildren Finneas and Nolan, San Antonio, Texas; cousins, nieces and nephews in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Asia and Australia. Preceded in death by her parents.

Gail is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served over the years as a youth Sunday School teacher, longtime Relief Society teacher, and as a counselor in the Clearfield Utah North Stake Relief Society Presidency. She has a deep and abiding testimony, and, while she doesn’t share it often publicly, when she does, it is memorable.

Her testimony continues through time and eternity and through the lives of her children and grandchildren. She is instrumental in building a home in which love and peace truly exists.

Visitation with Gail’s family will take place Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 6-8 p.m. at Russon Mortuary, 1585 W. 300 South, Syracuse, UT, and at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Clearfield 22nd Ward and Clearfield Utah North Stake Center, 151 N. 1000 West, Clearfield, UT. Funeral services follow at 6 p.m. the same day with Bishop Leif Summerhays conducting. It will be live-streamed at https://zoom.us/j/93559592422 

Special thanks and love are extended to the students, administration and Blue Zone at Shoreline Junior High School, Oncologist Dr. Carl Gray and his staff, and to the doctors and nurses who cared for Gail at Holy Cross Hospital - Davis. The attention to detail and love they exhibited to her and her family will be remembered forever. Heavenly Father knows of their dedication and they will be blessed for eternity.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Gail’s honor to the Davis Education Foundation: https://dsdgive.net/event/5293 

Finally, Gail shares the words of Science Officer Mr. Spock, “Live long and prosper.”