Mr. Otha Burnett
The News & Record lost a member of its family this week.
Mr. Otha Burnett died Sunday at age 82.
He had been a security guard for the News & Record until he fell ill in October.
If you’ve come by the paper in recent years, you already know that our security guards do more than mind the entrances and keep an eye out for suspicious characters.
They also deal with the public as much as any of us and are typically the folks who greet you in the lobby and make sure you find what you’re looking for.
Mr. Burnett (I always called him that out of respect) was particularly good at this and treated everyone with kindness and professionalism.
He seemed to be good friends with everyone, from Publisher Robin Saul on down.
His passions included sports and his church, Shiloh Baptist, where he was devoted member and where I recall seeing him from time to time when I visited.
He especially liked to talk baseball — but he had strong opinions about everything else, too.
He had his finger on the pulse of the community and I almost always learned things after conversations with him.
He also got around.
I recall running into him at an A&T homecoming concert, absolutely dapper from head to toe in a double-breasted suit and spit-shined shoes.
“Not being one to sit around,” his obituary in today’s News & Record says, he lived a full and fruitful life well past his “retirement” from Cone Mills and Gilbarco.
We were lucky to have had him here.
We’ll miss you, Mr. Burnett.
Comments (1)
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Allen we've certainly long suspected that security guards do more than mind the entrances at the N&R.
Did Otha's protean job skills by chance extend to writing editorials?
Posted on April 2, 2009 9:32 AM