- Date Of Birth: September 15, 1923
- Date Of Death: April 3, 2021
- State: Iowa
Phyllis Burt, age 97 of Algona, Iowa went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday, April 3, 2021 at Good Shepherd Health Center in Mason City. Phyllis Burt, the daughter of James Burdette and Leila Hardy, was born on September 15, 1923 in Greene, Iowa. Phyllis grew up in Greene and after finishing high school she studied bookkeeping, business law and speech. In 1941, just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she moved to Cedar Rapids and took a job working as a secretary. In 1947, after the end of WW II, she married Richard (Dick) Burt and the new couple moved to Algona where Dick started his poultry business and Phyllis began working as a secretary for the Hutchison and Hutchison Law Firm. Over the next 44 years in Algona, she and Dick were active in business, church and community while successfully raising 4 children. In 1991 she and her husband retired to Palm Coast, Florida where they continued active lives in church and community. In 2015, several years after Dick passed away, she returned to Algona to be close to family. Phyllis had a strong faith in Jesus Christ that shaped all of her life. Second to her family and homemaking, Phyllis loved Christian music and her Bible. The family was active at the First Presbyterian Church of Algona for many years and Phyllis sang and served as Choir director from 1968-1984. In 1985, she and Dick joined the newly formed Algona Evangelical Free Church where she continued in music and small group Bible studies with friends. During her years in Florida, she was a member of the Palm Coast Bible Church and enjoyed singing in the choir and being active in various Bible studies. Even in her last days, as her memory failed, Phyllis still enjoyed singing hymns of the faith and reciting scripture. Phyllis was preceded in death by her parents, her oldest brother, Warren and her husband, Dick. Left to cherish her memory are her older brother Leonard Hardy of Dallas, Texas; her children Bill (Terri) Burt of Mason City, Iowa; Tom (Vivian) Burt of Omaha, Nebraska; Joan (Ed) O’Reilly of Lakeville, Minnesota; Julia (Rick) Taves of Colorado Springs, Colorado and her 13 grandchildren, and 21 great grandchildren.
