City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Robert Burton
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 87.
Died 07/20/2024.
12/14/36 - 7/20/24
Robert Burton (87) of Raleigh, NC, passed away on July 20, 2024, surrounded by family, love, and music. Bob was born in Little Rock, AR to Claude and Helen (Kulbeth) Burton. His early passion for music, namely organ performance, propelled him to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree (1957) at Hendrix College, a Master of Music degree (1962) at Indiana University, and doctoral studies at The University of Kentucky. He accepted his first position as a church organist while still in college, and his career in church music then spanned another 60 years.
Certified by The Joint Commission on Church Music, as well as by the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bob faithfully served many parishes, including St Mark’s Episcopal (Little Rock, AR), All Saints Episcopal (Pontiac, MI), Christ Church Cathedral (Lexington, KY), The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd (Lexington, KY), and St Philip’s-St Andrew’s Episcopal (Akron, OH).
Continuing upon his ten-year tenure at Christ Church Cathedral and upon receiving his post at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, Bob pioneered and cultivated a renowned choral program based on the Anglican Cathedral Tradition and the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). He was a leader in bringing to the area such musical traditions as “The Festival of Lessons and Carols”, “First Sundays at Four”, and the annual, and always anticipated, “Three Choirs Festival”. Bob’s lasting legacy continues in the generations of talented musicians whom he educated, trained, and loved.
He is listed in the Episcopal Lay Leadership Directory as well as the International Who’s Who in Music and Musicians Directory. He was a member, and repeated Chair, of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission (Lexington). He also served on the Review and Selection Committee for the 1982 Hymnal of the Episcopal Church, and was a career-long member of the Association of Anglican Musicians as well as the American Guild of Organists.
Never a performer but rather always one who worshipped God through his music, Bob was preceded in death by his parents and his two siblings, Tommy and Nancy. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Ann, as well as six children: Julie Stone (Gary), Bill (Maria), Rory, Kenneth (Pennie), Rob Schmid (Carmela) and Lindsey Kindt (Michael), plus eleven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
A Eucharistic Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, August 21 at St Michael’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh, NC. At a future date, a Memorial Choral Evensong will take place at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, KY.
In lieu of flowers, Bob’s family has requested that donations be made to any of the following charitable funds:
St Michael’s Episcopal Church
Organ Fund
1520 Canterbury Rd
Raleigh, NC 27608
Christ Church Cathedral
RSCM Camp and Tour Fund
166 Market St
Lexington, KY 40507
The Cathedral Domain
830 State Hwy 1746
Irvine, KY 40336
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.