'Buckets of tears': Former Peoria TV personality known for family, weather and song
PEORIA – Death did not silence Vic Burnett, a lifelong performer and central Illinois TV personality.
“Vic Burnett sang at his own funeral, and he would have loved that,” said Viki Burnett, one of Vic Burnett’s 11 children.
The family played a recording of Vic Burnett singing ‘Be Not Afraid’ at the funeral.
"It is our family song for every occasion - birth, death, christening, birthday," said Viki Burnett. “Everyone sang along with it. Buckets of tears.”
Vic Burnett died Oct. 7 at Heritage Health of Chillicothe. At 91, he was still mentally sharp, and his sudden death was a surprise for his family. Though he had struggled with the aftermath of a case of pneumonia contracted last winter, he had improved enough that plans were underway to move him out of the skilled-care facility where he was living.
“He had passed his assessment with flying colors and was moving in that direction," Viki Burnett said, recalling the week her father died. "I was with him on Wednesday with his case worker. I hugged and kissed him goodbye. Thank God I said ‘I love you’ because I didn’t always do that. I talked to him Thursday evening, and he was dead at 7 o’clock Friday morning."
Vic Burnett was born in 1931 in St. Louis. His first performance happened when is father put him on a bar counter and asked him to sing. Afterward, people applauded and tossed coins.
“He was the oldest of three kids and my grandparents were very community oriented, and he had talent. They put him in front of a children’s choir at a very young age,” Viki Burnett said. “He acted in high school. When he was in the Air Force he was part of the organization that entertained the troops locally.”
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Burnett studied broadcasting and communications at the University of Iowa. After college, he was offered a job at Peoria’s NBC affiliate, WEEK-TV. Burnett became the weathercaster in 1976 and held the job for many years. He signed off each night by saying “Good night, and God Bless.”
In addition to working in television, Burnett was generous with his time and talent in many endeavors throughout the community. He emceed local events, including the St. Jude Telethon with former mayor Jim Maloof and the Journal Star’s annual spelling bee. He also volunteered with all the community theaters where he not only performed, but also directed and did production work. His work with the arts was so prolific he was named ArtsPartner’s Person of the Year in 2010.
In addition to his work in the community, Vic Burnett was also a loving father and husband. He met his wife, Pat, while at school in Iowa. The pair dated only five months before they married, but the union lasted for 66 years, until Helen's death in 2018. The pair had 11 children over the course of about 12 years, said Viki Burnett.
“Every year they had a kid, and we only lost one," said Viki Burnett. “He was their eighth child, and every year on his birthday, when we were kids, mom would make a birthday cake and we would go out in the front lawn and pretend that the wind, that Patrick, blew out the candle,” said Viki Burnett.
Vic Burnett passed his love of performance on to his family.
“Dad was on television, and so were we,” said Viki Burnett. “He had us singing on the air every year at Christmas time. We did cable shut-in masses before anyone even knew what cable TV was. We had to get up at five in the morning to be in the studio. And what a training ground, right? A lot of us went into fields that are very public-oriented because we learned those skills at a really young age from my dad.”
Now enlarged by 17 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, the family is still close. Though many of the Burnett kids moved away after school, all but one made their way back as they grew older, said Viki Burnett.
“We went to Texas and Michigan and Chicago and St. Louis, and then all of a sudden, they started coming back, because they wanted to raise their kids together, every single one of them,” she said.
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The church was filled with family and friends during Vic Burnett’s funeral Oct. 10. There were tears, shared memories and lots of music, said Viki Burnett.
“His son Johnny Burnett is a professional musician in Chicago, and he, along with the choir and the organist at Holy Family, all of them did a great job,” she said. “Dad chose all of the music, and we knew what we were gonna do, and it was wonderful.”
Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Former Peoria TV weatherman dies, leaving legacy of performing, service
