Dolores (Dee) Nielson Burton's Obituary
Dolores (Dee) Nielson Burton, a well-known Salt Lake City watercolor painter, passed away peacefully in her sleep (because that is a great way to go), after experiencing a number of age-related health challenges, on June 8, 2024 in a local assisted living home, surrounded by her loving family. Dee was born on May 24, 1929 to Elizabeth Fern St. Clair and Sidney R. Nielson. She was their third daughter.
Dee was born in Salt Lake City and educated here. While at the University of Utah, she joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She spent most of her life in the city. Her 1948 marriage to David M. Burton took her to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and to Los Angeles, California for a time, but she returned to Salt Lake City in 1956 with her husband to rear their family. About twenty years later, she started her painting career.
She is survived by 1 brother, Brent Nielson, of Mission Viejo, CA. She leaves behind 3 wonderful children, Chris Burton (Sabine) Elkridge, MD, Patrick Burton (Mona) Salt Lake City, UT, and Julie Burton (Roger Hickey) of Washington, D.C, 4 Grandchildren, and 10 Great Grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her oldest son, Mark Burton of Fairfield, CA., by sisters Geraldine, and Sidney Wallace of Ogden, Utah, Pete Nielson of Salt Lake City, by her parents, and by her husband, David M. Burton.
As she began to paint, she studied with Frank Erickson, Sharlene and Larry Christensen and Marilyn Smith. She took additional classes at the Fredrick Wong and Zoltan Szabo.
In 1982 Dee became a life-long signature member of the Utah Watercolor Society. She also served as an officer for three years and earned two blue ribbons. Many of her paintings were hung in local Galleries. As her art developed, she was invited to participate in a variety of shows and exhibits, featuring her work in watercolor and pastels. In 1985 she had a one woman show in Washington, DC. She had a painting selected by the Salt Lake Art Center to travel to the National Museum of History in Taipei, Taiwan. Paintings were selected to communicate part of our Utah experience to the Chinese in exchange for the exhibit in Salt Lake City and “4000 Years of Chinese Jade” show at our art center. She is included in the first edition of “Artists of Utah,” by Olpin, Seifrit, and Swanson, an important reference book on art and art history in Utah.
For many years she was a member of Chapter R of P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization), an organization that raises funds for scholarships,
grants, and loans to women returning to the workforce. She served as a President of the PEO Chapter R from 2000-2003.
Services will be held at a later date. In the meantime, the family suggest that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to PBS Utah, an organization she admired and supported.
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