---Source: Randy Burnett, son of Ray and Edith.
My Mom and Dad met at Dart's Restaurant in Concord, MI (about a hundred miles west of Detroit) in 1947. Dad lived with Dorothy and Jim (Johns) before war, then he enlisted in the Army (Jim thought he was lazy and got support from Dad's Dad [Grandpa Burnett] to kind of force him into it, to make him a man). Dad met Doug Dart (who opened the restaurant after the war) in the Army. After being discharged from the army, Dad went to work for Edison (Mom thinks Hazel, helped get him the job, but can't remember how). He then left Edison in '47 and went to Concord to work at Dart's Restaurant where he met Mom. They dated from April to October 1947 when they got married in Concord. Dad worked for Consumer's Power in Jackson from Sept. '47 to Jan. '48. They moved to Detroit in Jan. or Feb. of '48. Sometime after, he went to work for Detroit Edison.

While in England preparing to go to the Battle Of The Bulge, he began having difficulty seeing out of one eye (we can't remember which one however). He was losing sight in one eye, and doctors didn't know why. They thought it might be an infection, but they were afraid it could be a tumor, so they gave him a choice; leave it alone and treat it as only an infection, or have it removed in case it was caused by a tumor. All alone in England, and not wanting to alarm the family with a phone call, he made the decision himself to have it removed. After recovering from surgery, he was discharged from the Army and returned home. It's not clear if he returned home to Kentucky or if he then came to Michigan. Perhaps other Burnett relative could shed some light here.

My Father was one of the hardest working men I've ever known. He could even outpace me when I was a kid. Perhaps the Army played a role in that. After all, at the time he enlisted, he was barely into his 20's. Perhaps he just grew up.

1. Wedding photo of Milton "Ray" and Edith Burnett taken in 1947. They were married in the Concord [MI] Presbyterian church by Rev. Shannon Griffith.
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2. Milton "Ray" Burnett ca. 1921
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3. Ray and Edith Burnett Family - 1959. Left to Right: Randy, Ray, Edith, and Neal. Dale in front.
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4. Jim Johns, Dorothy Johns, Hazel Burnett, and Ray standing on the porch of Elliott and Hazel's house on Vaughan in Detroit, MI about 1940.
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5. Ray standing in front of Dorothy and Jim Johns house on Trinity in Detroit, MI about 1940.
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6. Ray at an Army base in WW II about 1940.
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