Deetta Burns works at the Countywide & Sun, where each week she labels and bundles all the newspapers.
But even though Burns might have a job that some would think is repetitive and routine, she has led a complex life.
Burns was born in Wurzburg, Germany, when her father was in the U.S. Army.
“The base didn’t have a hospital, so they had to go to the nearest town,” she said in an email interview. “I don’t remember the first time I was there.”
As with most military families, they moved frequently when she was a child. They lived in Germany twice, Belgium, Kentucky, Kansas, and finally, in 1977, Shawnee, OK.
Burns fondly remembers when her grandparents visited them in Belgium.
“My Grandma and Grandpa Macklin had come to visit us in Belgium, and we traveled to Switzerland and Holland,” she said. “We saw the tulips and a lighthouse in Holland and the houses that had been built in the side of the mountain and rode in a riverboat in Switzerland.”
After moving to Oklahoma, Burns graduated from Dale High School in 1988.
Then, like her father, she joined the U.S. Army.
“I joined the Army to have the experience and travel,” she said. “Never got to travel.”
Burns completed basic training at Fort Sill, near Lawton, and she did her Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Lee, in Virginia. Then, she returned to Fort Sill. Her Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was a 92A, or Automated Logistical Specialist.
“I worked in the motorpool ordering parts for the vehicles,” she said.
Burns was scheduled to be reassigned to Hawaii when her plans were nixed by the Iraq War.
“I missed Hawaii because President (George W.) Bush started the war with Iraq back up, and most soldiers went over to Iraq,” she said. “And it put what they called a stop-loss on orders for other duty stations.”
Not long after that, with three years of Army life under her belt, Burns left the military. She took from the experience a sense of her own strength.
“I learned that I could be a lot stronger and a better person with more knowledge, and I could fight with different weapons,” she said.
Burns has two children by her first husband – a 19-year-old son and a 17-yearold daughter – and a 14-year-old daughter by her husband, Charles.
She has had a variety of jobs since leaving the Army, including working at K-mart, Everything’s a Dollar, K-B Toys, Love’s Country Store, and Kwick Stop. She has also sold Scentsy products since 2010.
In 2005, she began working in the mailroom for the Shawnee News-Star.
“Robby hired me at the News-Star, and I’ve been there in the mailroom ever since,” she said. “I’ve done inserting papers, labeling the papers, sending them out the door to be delivered and delivered them.”
In Aug. 2020, Burns started working at the Countywide, as well.
Burns has worked with some colorful coworkers, but she also met her friend Sharyl Copeland, who works alongside her at both newspapers.
“Sharyl and I (have) worked together for about five years, and we get along pretty well,” she said. “We seem to be two peas in a pod. I learned that Sharyl and I are a lot alike.”
At the Countywide, Copeland adds inserts to the newspapers, and Burns labels and bundles them before they are delivered to the post offices or put into racks at businesses.
“My job is challenging because I never know what is going to happen,” said Burns. “I enjoy it because I like the people I work with and can have fun.”
When she’s not on the job, Burns enjoys reading, crocheting, planting flowers and going to the movies.
“Hopefully, someday, I can retire,” she said about future plans. “But I’ll stay working until then and play with grandkids IF I ever have any.”
