Samuel M. Burnett, a Los Angeles based architect and former partner in the architectural firm Charles Luckman Associates, a firm responsible for some of LA’s most iconic structures including The Forum and the Space Age Theme Building at LAX, died on Wednesday, September 21st, 2017, at the age of 88.
Burnett was born in Stamford, Texas on July 26th, 1929. He died of natural causes at his home in Studio City, California.
Growing up in the small west Texas town of Albany, just a few hours west of Dallas, Burnett learned to fly a single prop airplane by the age of sixteen. At 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1948. While stationed in Fassburg, Germany, he found himself in the middle of the Berlin Airlift working to maintain the cargo planes used for transporting fuel and food. It was the beginning of the Cold War.
Later, while stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, he often saw, and felt, the testing of above ground nuclear weapons, a distaste for which he carried throughout his life, and no doubt contributed to his love for Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove. After leaving the Air Force in 1952, and thanks to the G.I. Bill, he studied architecture at the University of Texas.
While in Austin, during the second half of the 1950s, he and his wife Dr. Millie H. Burnett had two children, Terry and Sheryl, where Burnett designed the young families home that is still standing today.
After a short stint in White Plains, New York, he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1967, where his son Chris would eventually be born. He joined up with Charles Luckman Associates, located in the Luckman Building at the tail end of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The firm’s track record was well known, including such iconic structures as Madison Square Garden, The Forum and the Aon Center. Burnett lead the teams which designed the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, the Warner Bros Office Building in Burbank, the Anchorage Sports Arena and Disney’s Epcot Center, among others.
After retiring in 1995, he dedicated his time to writing 17 books for his close friends and family, on topics ranging from his “best friend” Dusty to the details involved in designing the Aloha stadium, the first major structure of it’s kind to move on tracks, adjusting for both baseball and football fields. Warner Bros Office Building was the first to use curved glass in its design, praised by the Los Angeles Times as an “architectural gem.”
He traveled extensively both for work and pleasure, visiting every U.S state and dozens of countries around the world. As an amateur photographer he took thousands of pictures from his travels, later displayed in darkened living room slide-shows fondly remembered by his family, often with smoke billowing out of his pipe in one hand, and a glass of iced-tea in the other.
He was a lifelong Democrat, a Lakers fan, an avid reader, a lover of airplanes, and a follower of all the latest scientific discoveries. He detested racism and injustice, and abhorred police brutality. As a lover of the outdoors, he would often take his sons on hikes all over the Los Angeles area. And you could find him at the movies nearly every other weekend.
He is remembered by his family and friends as a very kind man, a generous father, and occasionally, the most cantankerous, but lovable, soul there ever was.
Burnett is survived by his 3 children, Terry, Sheryl, and Chris, 3 grandchildren, Kevin, Nikki and Dakota, and one great-granddaugher, Allie.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 26th in the Albany Cemetery. Interment will follow under the direction of Morehart Mortuary. Condolences may be made online at www.morehartmortuary.net.
Burnett was born in Stamford, Texas on July 26th, 1929. He died of natural causes at his home in Studio City, California.
Growing up in the small west Texas town of Albany, just a few hours west of Dallas, Burnett learned to fly a single prop airplane by the age of sixteen. At 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1948. While stationed in Fassburg, Germany, he found himself in the middle of the Berlin Airlift working to maintain the cargo planes used for transporting fuel and food. It was the beginning of the Cold War.
Later, while stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, he often saw, and felt, the testing of above ground nuclear weapons, a distaste for which he carried throughout his life, and no doubt contributed to his love for Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove. After leaving the Air Force in 1952, and thanks to the G.I. Bill, he studied architecture at the University of Texas.
While in Austin, during the second half of the 1950s, he and his wife Dr. Millie H. Burnett had two children, Terry and Sheryl, where Burnett designed the young families home that is still standing today.
After a short stint in White Plains, New York, he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1967, where his son Chris would eventually be born. He joined up with Charles Luckman Associates, located in the Luckman Building at the tail end of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The firm’s track record was well known, including such iconic structures as Madison Square Garden, The Forum and the Aon Center. Burnett lead the teams which designed the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, the Warner Bros Office Building in Burbank, the Anchorage Sports Arena and Disney’s Epcot Center, among others.
After retiring in 1995, he dedicated his time to writing 17 books for his close friends and family, on topics ranging from his “best friend” Dusty to the details involved in designing the Aloha stadium, the first major structure of it’s kind to move on tracks, adjusting for both baseball and football fields. Warner Bros Office Building was the first to use curved glass in its design, praised by the Los Angeles Times as an “architectural gem.”
He traveled extensively both for work and pleasure, visiting every U.S state and dozens of countries around the world. As an amateur photographer he took thousands of pictures from his travels, later displayed in darkened living room slide-shows fondly remembered by his family, often with smoke billowing out of his pipe in one hand, and a glass of iced-tea in the other.
He was a lifelong Democrat, a Lakers fan, an avid reader, a lover of airplanes, and a follower of all the latest scientific discoveries. He detested racism and injustice, and abhorred police brutality. As a lover of the outdoors, he would often take his sons on hikes all over the Los Angeles area. And you could find him at the movies nearly every other weekend.
He is remembered by his family and friends as a very kind man, a generous father, and occasionally, the most cantankerous, but lovable, soul there ever was.
Burnett is survived by his 3 children, Terry, Sheryl, and Chris, 3 grandchildren, Kevin, Nikki and Dakota, and one great-granddaugher, Allie.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 26th in the Albany Cemetery. Interment will follow under the direction of Morehart Mortuary. Condolences may be made online at www.morehartmortuary.net.
Samuel M. Burnett, a Los Angeles based architect and former partner in the architectural firm Charles Luckman Associates, a firm responsible for some of LA’s most iconic structures including The Forum and the Space Age Theme Building at LAX, died on Wednesday, September 21st, 2017, at the age of 88.
Burnett was born in Stamford, Texas on July 26th, 1929. He died of natural causes at his home in Studio City, California.
Growing up in the small west Texas town of Albany, just a few hours west of Dallas, Burnett learned to fly a single prop airplane by the age of sixteen. At 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1948. While stationed in Fassburg, Germany, he found himself in the middle of the Berlin Airlift working to maintain the cargo planes used for transporting fuel and food. It was the beginning of the Cold War.
Later, while stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, he often saw, and felt, the testing of above ground nuclear weapons, a distaste for which he carried throughout his life, and no doubt contributed to his love for Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove. After leaving the Air Force in 1952, and thanks to the G.I. Bill, he studied architecture at the University of Texas.
While in Austin, during the second half of the 1950s, he and his wife Dr. Millie H. Burnett had two children, Terry and Sheryl, where Burnett designed the young families home that is still standing today.
After a short stint in White Plains, New York, he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1967, where his son Chris would eventually be born. He joined up with Charles Luckman Associates, located in the Luckman Building at the tail end of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The firm’s track record was well known, including such iconic structures as Madison Square Garden, The Forum and the Aon Center. Burnett lead the teams which designed the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, the Warner Bros Office Building in Burbank, the Anchorage Sports Arena and Disney’s Epcot Center, among others.
After retiring in 1995, he dedicated his time to writing 17 books for his close friends and family, on topics ranging from his “best friend” Dusty to the details involved in designing the Aloha stadium, the first major structure of it’s kind to move on tracks, adjusting for both baseball and football fields. Warner Bros Office Building was the first to use curved glass in its design, praised by the Los Angeles Times as an “architectural gem.”
He traveled extensively both for work and pleasure, visiting every U.S state and dozens of countries around the world. As an amateur photographer he took thousands of pictures from his travels, later displayed in darkened living room slide-shows fondly remembered by his family, often with smoke billowing out of his pipe in one hand, and a glass of iced-tea in the other.
He was a lifelong Democrat, a Lakers fan, an avid reader, a lover of airplanes, and a follower of all the latest scientific discoveries. He detested racism and injustice, and abhorred police brutality. As a lover of the outdoors, he would often take his sons on hikes all over the Los Angeles area. And you could find him at the movies nearly every other weekend.
He is remembered by his family and friends as a very kind man, a generous father, and occasionally, the most cantankerous, but lovable, soul there ever was.
Burnett is survived by his 3 children, Terry, Sheryl, and Chris, 3 grandchildren, Kevin, Nikki and Dakota, and one great-granddaugher, Allie.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 26th in the Albany Cemetery. Interment will follow under the direction of Morehart Mortuary. Condolences may be made online at www.morehartmortuary.net.
Burnett was born in Stamford, Texas on July 26th, 1929. He died of natural causes at his home in Studio City, California.
Growing up in the small west Texas town of Albany, just a few hours west of Dallas, Burnett learned to fly a single prop airplane by the age of sixteen. At 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1948. While stationed in Fassburg, Germany, he found himself in the middle of the Berlin Airlift working to maintain the cargo planes used for transporting fuel and food. It was the beginning of the Cold War.
Later, while stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, he often saw, and felt, the testing of above ground nuclear weapons, a distaste for which he carried throughout his life, and no doubt contributed to his love for Stanley Kubrik’s Dr. Strangelove. After leaving the Air Force in 1952, and thanks to the G.I. Bill, he studied architecture at the University of Texas.
While in Austin, during the second half of the 1950s, he and his wife Dr. Millie H. Burnett had two children, Terry and Sheryl, where Burnett designed the young families home that is still standing today.
After a short stint in White Plains, New York, he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1967, where his son Chris would eventually be born. He joined up with Charles Luckman Associates, located in the Luckman Building at the tail end of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The firm’s track record was well known, including such iconic structures as Madison Square Garden, The Forum and the Aon Center. Burnett lead the teams which designed the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, the Warner Bros Office Building in Burbank, the Anchorage Sports Arena and Disney’s Epcot Center, among others.
After retiring in 1995, he dedicated his time to writing 17 books for his close friends and family, on topics ranging from his “best friend” Dusty to the details involved in designing the Aloha stadium, the first major structure of it’s kind to move on tracks, adjusting for both baseball and football fields. Warner Bros Office Building was the first to use curved glass in its design, praised by the Los Angeles Times as an “architectural gem.”
He traveled extensively both for work and pleasure, visiting every U.S state and dozens of countries around the world. As an amateur photographer he took thousands of pictures from his travels, later displayed in darkened living room slide-shows fondly remembered by his family, often with smoke billowing out of his pipe in one hand, and a glass of iced-tea in the other.
He was a lifelong Democrat, a Lakers fan, an avid reader, a lover of airplanes, and a follower of all the latest scientific discoveries. He detested racism and injustice, and abhorred police brutality. As a lover of the outdoors, he would often take his sons on hikes all over the Los Angeles area. And you could find him at the movies nearly every other weekend.
He is remembered by his family and friends as a very kind man, a generous father, and occasionally, the most cantankerous, but lovable, soul there ever was.
Burnett is survived by his 3 children, Terry, Sheryl, and Chris, 3 grandchildren, Kevin, Nikki and Dakota, and one great-granddaugher, Allie.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, September 26th in the Albany Cemetery. Interment will follow under the direction of Morehart Mortuary. Condolences may be made online at www.morehartmortuary.net.
Gravesite Details
Did not find an obituary.
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
