Mary Burant, 87, was well-known in Racine for her floral watercolor paintings

Obituary for Mary Burant

June 12, 1936 – November 10, 2023

Mary Burant (née Lucas), 87, passed away surrounded by her loving family on Nov. 10, 2023.

Mary was born on June 12, 1936, in Chicago to the late Frank and Marybelle (née O’Brien) Lucas. The family moved to Stevens Point, Wis., in 1941. Mary attended high school at St. Joseph’s Academy. At the end of her junior year she was accepted as a special student to UW-Stevens Point in 1957, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in education.  

While at UW-Stevens Point, Mary met the love of her life, Donald Burant. They married on July 19, 1958, at St. Stephens Catholic Church in Stevens Point. They were blessed with three wonderful daughters, Margie, Jeanne and Nancy, who made her very proud.

Mary earned her master’s degree in reading at UW-Milwaukee while raising her children. She taught at Lowell Elementary in Madison for a short time. The majority of her career was spent in the Racine Unified School District at Jefferson Lighthouse Elementary and Goodland Elementary Schools. There, she was a reading specialist and first grade teacher, as well as a summer school teacher and tutor. She was incredibly proud of being named Teacher of the Year in 1985. Mary retired from teaching in 1990.

In her retirement, Mary pursued her lifelong dream of becoming an artist. She took classes at Wustum Museum and at Elderhostels across the United States to learn about painting. She soon became well-known in Racine and throughout Wisconsin for her floral watercolors. She, along with her husband, Don, participated in art fairs around the state. Don did all of the matting and framing of her art. Her works were selected to be in Watercolor Wisconsin 17 times.

She also became involved in the artist community in Racine. She was the head of the Racine 6th Street Art Walk for two years and was a member of the Wustum Art Museum as well as the Racine Art Guild. Mary was a founding member of the Artist’s Gallery in Racine and Friends of Seniors. In 1998, she was named by The Racine Journal Times as one of the “5 who made a Difference.” 

Mary and Don vacationed for many winters in Florida where Mary also took art classes. She never tired of learning new techniques and explored abstract, collage and alcohol ink painting.  

Mary was never happier than when surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband of 65 years, Donald Burant; and their children, Margie (Bob) Milius of Elk River, Minn., Jeanne (Doug) Jones of Burnsville, Minn., and Nancy (Bob) Margis of Racine; grandchildren, Jessica (Mac) Matza, Alex Kissner, Katie (Nathan) Panka, Ryan Jones, Rachel (JP Dentino) Margis, Jayme (Anh) Pham, Andy Jones; and great-grandchildren, Ava Pham and Everett Panka.

She is also survived by her beloved brother and sister-in-law, John and Shirley Lucas; and many nieces and nephews, including Kathy (Jim) and Stephanie March and Christine (Brian Grondin) Lucas and Luc Grondin.

Services

A Mass of Christian Burial for Mary Burant will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 18 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 2201 Northwestern Ave. Relatives and friends may meet with the family from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Private interment will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery at a later date.

The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the wonderful caregivers at Primrose Retirement Community for the love and care she received over the past eight years. They would also like to extend a special thank you to Hospice Alliance.

Obituary and photo of Mary Burant courtesy of Sturino Funeral Home.