LaVerne Shire Gross Burt, devoted wife, mother, and game player, died Monday, March 11, 2024, in Colorado. She was 97 years old,

LaVerne was born on October 25, 1926, to Frank W. Shire and Roxy Truax Shire in Denver, Colorado. She was the youngest child, joining Marie, Leonard, and June in the household.

Growing up in the Great Depression and during World War 2, she learned to be very independent and self-sufficient, personal traits that continued throughout her long life. During the war, she lived with her mother and worked at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal which manufactured weapons for the war effort.

LaVerne met John Gross in Denver and after he returned from service in the Navy they married in Denver on June 15, 1946. The couple moved to Portland, Oregon in 1948 along with their first child, Barbara, to be closer to Laverne’s sister, Marie, and her family. Two other children, David and Lorraine, joined the family while in Portland and LaVerne developed a love for gardening and the Oregon coast.

The family moved back to Denver in 1966 and they had many happy get-togethers with the extended Gross family.  Then John Gross died unexpectedly at the age of 48, leaving LaVerne a widow.

LaVerne met Dale Burt at her State of Colorado workplace, and they were married in 1974, merging their two families. After Dale retired, they split their time between Cripple Creek, Colorado and Punta Gorda, Florida. LaVerne and Dale also spent their early retirement taking long road trips all over the United States and Canada and would return with great stories about their adventures.

LaVerne and Dale eventually decided to move back to Colorado full time and settled in Aurora . They bought a small house where they hosted family get togethers, gardened, played board games, and took long walks.

Dale died in 2010 and LaVerne continued to live on her own for a couple of years until she decided to move to an independent living retirement facility in Aurora. After this move, she happily spent her time making new friends, playing board and card games, doing puzzles, and reading her favorite books. Her family soon learned that when they called to visit, game playing with her friends took priority in her schedule.

After a bad fall in 2021,  LaVerne decided to move to an assisted-living group home where she remained until her death. 

LaVerne is mourned by her daughters Lorraine Mulqueen and Barbara Hart, son-in-laws George Mulqueen and Paul Hart, stepdaughter, Diane Stewart, and stepson Dennis Burt, along with five grandchildren, several great grandchildren and extended family. Sadly, her son David Gross pre-deceased her by less than two weeks on February 27, 2024 and stepdaughter Deborah Loose died in 2019.  

LaVerne asked that no funeral be held, but to scatter her ashes ‘where the wildflowers grow’.  She is missed every day.

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