Second Lieutenant Burtner died in an automobile accident near Del Rio, Texas, on March 20, 1967, a few days after he had received his wings as an Air Force pilot.  A Philosophy and English major and a graduate of the class of 1965, he was the son of Lt. Colonel Clare Paul Burtner and Mrs. Margaret Burt Burtner, both of the class of 1941. 

At Dickinson Burtner was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and served all four years on the Student Senate and as its president during his senior year.