Dixie Ann Burningham

Dixie Ann Burningham, 88, of Dana Point, California passed away April 4, 2020. Dixie was born August 23rd, 1931 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Durrell Thomas (Dick) Burningham and Clara Murdock Burningham. She attended Davis High School, where she was crowned Cantaloupe Queen. Dixie graduated from the University of Utah, and was a member of the Tri Delta Sorority. Upon graduating in Elementary Education, she quickly decided teaching wasn't for her and she went to work for United Airlines as a flight attendant. She lived first in New York, then lived in several areas in Southern California, most recently Dana Point and her vacation home in Palm Desert.


Dixie had the best childhood.
Dixie was a daddy's girl. He bought her a horse because he knew how much she loved them, without even having a place to keep it. The hardest part about going to college for Dixie was they wouldn't let her horse live on campus.
Dixie's mom, Clara, knew how much Dixie hated shopping, so Clara shopped for her. Her mom would purchase a variety of outfits and would mail them to Dixie wherever she lived. Dixie would keep the outfits she liked and ship the rest back to her mom to return to the store. When Dixie's mom was in her 80's Dixie finally had to do her own shopping, by running into the store and buying the first thing she saw that she liked.
Dixie wanted to hang out with her older sister, Carma, and her friends. Before Carma was old enough to have a driver's license she would sneak out and take the car for joy rides. To avoid getting caught, they would drive home backwards to remove the miles from the odometer. At age 13 Dixie convinced Carma that she was a better backwards driver. So, they would take Dixie with them and let her drive home backwards. This worked out great until Dixie drove past her mother who was driving in the opposite direction.
Dixie's nephews and nieces all loved her and wanted to live with her. At the age of 15 Steve tried to go live with Dixie. Without telling anyone he took a bus from Utah to Los Angeles. After traveling all night long, he arrived in the downtown L.A. bus station early in the morning. Luckily as Steve was stepping off the bus Dixie was there waiting for him. Afterwards, Dixie promised the nieces and nephews that they could spend more time together.


Dixie loved working.
Dixie was one of the most sought-after Flight Attendants to work with. She even earned a heroism award from United Airlines for saving a passenger's life. Dixie taught herself how to fix up and remodel homes. Her work ethic coupled with her cleverness as a real estate investor, helped her to become a very successful business woman.


Dixie had a great life.
Dixie loved good food, but she hated to cook. To her cooking meant reheating something in the microwave. She did however know all the best restaurants. She could recommend restaurants for almost every place around the world that she had visited. Dixie could also give you detailed directions on how to get there.
When Dixie was around there wasn't a stranger in the room. It didn't matter if it was a child, an employee, or a famous person she treated them all with the same respect. Dixie was very kind to those around her and was generous to a fault.
Dixie and Joy loved collecting art and loved parties both at their homes and those of their friends. They traveled to many parts of the world, including many trips to France. They often special ordered a Mercedes, drove it around Europe and then shipped it back home. However, Dixie's favorite vehicle was her little pickup because she could carry her tools in the back. She eventually sold her truck to the movie studio.


Dixie was preceded in death by her parents, Dick and Clara Burningham, sisters Deane Burningham and Carma Lunt, a nephew, Mark Lunt, and many pets that were important members of her family. She is survived by her long-time friend and partner Joy Garcia, nephews Steve Lunt (Algonquin, Il), Scott Lunt (Pocatello, ID), Kirk Lunt (Gainesville, GA), and nieces Sharon Wilkinson (Coronado, CA), Renee Nicholls (Layton, UT), 26 grand nephews and nieces and 75 great-grand nephews and nieces, and numerous special friends.

The family would like to give special thanks to the staff at Caleo Bay Alzheimer's Center of La Quinta, CA, Destiny Hospice, Dr. Gloria Engel, Dr. Edward L. Smith, and Dr. Dawn Atwal for their love and many kind acts of service. In lieu of flowers, a donation to your favorite children or animal charity in Dixie's name would be appreciated. Due to the current restrictions of the Corvid-19 pandemic services will be held at a later date. In the interim if you would like, please share memories and pictures in the Guest Book.