Mary A. Burkett

Mary A. (Collins) Burkett, 59, of Panhandle, TX and formerly of Red Scaffold, SD, passed away Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at BSA Hospital, Amarillo, TX.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. MDT, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at the Red Scaffold Gym. Burial will follow in Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery, Red Scaffold. Wake services will be 7:00 p.m., Monday, April 20, 2026, at the gym, with a procession from west of Red Scaffold at 5:00 p.m.

Mary Anne Collins was born December 12, 1966, in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to Dwight and Phyllis (Red Bull) Collins. She attended Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School, graduating in 1986.

Mary continued her education at Black Hills State University and Montana State University before enlisting in the United States Navy in 1989. While serving, she was a second-class weapons technician, working with nuclear weapons. She was especially proud to have been one of eight women selected to help prove that women could serve on ships at sea. Mary was honorably discharged in 1993.

On April 4, 1991, Mary married Gregory Burkett. Together they welcomed one son, Jacob. In 2000, Mary was involved in a very serious accident, which left her disabled and unable to work.

In high school, Mary loved playing basketball and softball, and she continued to enjoy sports later in life, including volleyball. She also enjoyed researching her genealogy and volunteered her time helping with Catholic youth retreats. Mary was a wonderful wife, and mother. She was quick to smile and loved to talk and meet new people. She could outshoot most men at the Mountain Men Rendezvous. And loved to sit up with her sisters and tell scary stories.

Mary is survived by her husband, Gregory Burkett of Panhandle, Texas; her siblings: Pauline Collins, Delicia Hiserote, and Sheila Collins, all of Red Scaffold; David Collins of Sioux Falls; Williams Collins of Rapid City; and Stella Broome of Tennessee; as well as many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dwight and Phyllis Collins; her son, Jacob; her grandparents, Matilda and Jacob Red Bull; and two brothers, Marlon Red Bull and Thomas Collins.

Luce Funeral Home of Gettysburg has been entrusted with Mary’s arrangements.