LIVING ABUNDANTLY WITH GOD’S GRACE

Robert Burnett sits with one of his greatgrandchildren and, from back left, son Danny, daughters Janice and Kathy and son Allen.

STORY BY ELISABETH ALTAMIRANO-SMITH PHOTOS BY ELISABETH ALTAMIRANO-SMITH

AND CONTRIBUTED

People tend to slow down and relax in their older years especially after retirement, but not Robert Burnett of Thorsby. At age 97, he still lives his days running at full capacity. Every January, he begins working on his garden, planting seeds and sows a whopping 500 tomato plants on his farm. He plants multitudes of other vegetables, but tomatoes are his greatest number of produce. He has dedicated his life to living with excellence and to the best of his ability.

“He plants his garden in rows of 600 feet,” his son Danny said. “Everything he has out there is in 600 feet rows. When you start picking, the row is as far as the eye can see. This year he had six-600 feet rows of corn alone.”

Burnett used to plant 800 tomato

plants every year, but decided to cut back Last Christmas, Robert Burnett baked 467 loaves of bread for friends and family.

ABOVE: Growing produce in vast quantities is a passion for Robert Burnett as a way to feed those who are hungry. RIGHT: Burnett enjoys making cinnamon bread and sourdough bread.

to 500 the last few years. His passion for planting such a large garden comes from his desire to feed people, especially those without food. He does not charge for the bushels and baskets he gives out, he just wants to know that people are not hungry.

“When I was a boy and growing up on this farm, our food came from what we grew,” Burnett said. “We had beans, peas, tomatoes, okra, cantaloupe, corn. Our mother cooked anything that we brought home. We (10 children) brought her coons, opossums, squirrels, turtles. We would go down to the spring and hold a stick out to the turtles and wait for them to bite onto it. Mother would fry it up. She could cook anything but had a special knack for baking cakes and strawberry cobbler.”

When he was 16, Burnett and his cousin were working on a Model A Ford, when his uncle came outside to inform them that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the country was at war. World War II had begun. He and his cousin enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

In 1944, Burnett trained in underwater demolition and was assigned to Ship LSC70. He travelled the South Pacific, as a Third Class Gunner’s Mate. Like many military personnel that have been witness to war, Burnett is not keen on recalling his memories from those days. From his ship, he

witnessed the mushroom cloud that hovered over Hiroshima following the bombing. He and his shipmates were sent in to survey the area afterwards and found only one remaining survivor — a 12-year-old girl.

While in the Navy, Burnett’s foot was crushed while exiting a port hole during an air raid. Because there was not a doctor on board, his foot was left broken and unattended for three days until he could visit another ship.

Burnett came home in July of 1946. Thorsby had

Robert Burnett enjoys cooking, especially breakfast food.

Burnett said his mother did not allow he and his siblings in the kitchen, and his love for cooking is self-taught. He cooks for all family gatherings and is most notably recognized for his recipes for tomato gravy, cinnamon bread and sourdough bread.

a taxi service during that time, but it was not available. Instead, Burnett hitched a ride with a man that brought him home at twilight. His family, (who thought he was missing-in-action) was away visiting family and not home at the time. His oldest brother took Burnett to their uncle’s house to be reunited with them.

“It is something I think of often,” Burnett said. “When Daddy saw me across the field and that I had come home, he came running down the hill to meet me.”

Once home, Burnett went on a blind date where he met his future wife, Lillian. Together, they had four children: Danny, Allen, Janice and Kathy. They were married until her death in 1997.

Burnett went to work for Kimberly-Clark in Childersburg “starting with the bottom job and ending with the top job” retiring as paper mill superintendent.

He began his love of gardening in 1956, expanding it over the years. Every year, about the time his summer garden is finished, Burnett begins preparing sour dough bread mixtures, which enables him to make hundreds of loaves of bread to give out at Christmas.

“Last year, I made 467 loaves of bread for everyone at church, for our friends and family,” Burnett said.

Burnett said his mother did not allow he and his siblings in the kitchen, and his love for cooking is selftaught. He cooks for all family gatherings and is most notably recognized for his recipes for tomato gravy, cinnamon bread and sourdough bread.

On April 19, 2020, Thorsby received frontline winds that blew across Burnett’s farm and sent a massive tree crashing into his bedroom. Burnett was pinned down for three hours until a neighbor kicked the door down to rescue him. The rest of the home was untouched, and Burnett was left unscathed by the damage.

“God has always looked after me. He has always protected me, and I am grateful,” Burnett said.

Burnett is a faithful member of Thorsby First Baptist Church. He has four children, nine grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.