BURTON, COURTNEY, JR.

BURTON, COURTNEY, JR. (29 Oct. 1912-19 Aug. 1992), chairman of OGLEBAY NORTON CO. for 35 years and active in national Republican Party affairs, was born in Cleveland, the son of Courtney Burton, Sr. and Sarita Oglebay Burton. He attended Hawken School and from 1932-34 studied at the Michigan College of Mining and Engineering in Houghton, Michigan. Burton was closely associated with the Ferro Machine and Foundry Co. at 3155 E. 66th St. and by 1940, the foundry, employing 3,500 people, was wholly owned by his family. After the death of Crispin Oglebay in 1949, Burton was elected vice president of Oglebay Norton and from 1957 until shortly before his death, he served as its Chairman of the Board.

Burton served as special assistant to Nelson Rockefeller in the Office of Interamerican Affairs until receiving his commission as a Navy officer in 1944. After WORLD WAR II, he was mayor of Gates Mills from 1948-61. Active in raising money for the Republican Party, he served as vice-president of the party's National France Committee 1952-61 and was in charge of its operations for Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. As a life-long conservationist, Burton headed the Cleveland Zoological Society for 9 years, served on the Metropolitan Park District Board for 8 years, and played a significant role in the formation of the CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL RECREATION AREA in 1973.

Burton married Marguerite Rankin 7 Sept. 1933 and they had 2 daughters, Sarita Burton Frith and Marguerite Burton Humphrey. After his wife's death in 1976, Burton married Margaret Leitch 20 Dec. 1978.


Jonovic, Donald J. Iron, Industry, and Independence: A Biographical Portrait of Courtney Burton, Jr., American Industrialist and Patriot (1986).


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