Retired barber, now 104, had list of famous clients, including Block founders

By Kylie Gannan

Burnette Rinehart celebrated his 104th birthday at the Bethany Care Center this month, surrounded by his friends and family. He reaches this milestone just 18 miles from the town where he was born.

Burnette entered the world in 1912 in the small town of Blythedale. He said that he mainly worried about his schooling, and because Blythedale has such a small population, it comes as no surprise that he was in a graduating class of only four people. Burnette even remembers each of their names, Jessie Reynolds, Johnny Cox and Buster Miller.

When asked about jobs he had as a teenager, Burnette said that most people at that age didn’t have them, aside from helping on the farm. He said that his first real job was at a local grocery store, where he worked before starting out at his first barbershop. Burnette said that he wasn’t very skilled as a barber at the time and drew few customers, so he sold his part of the business.

Later, he bought a shop in Eagleville and because he didn’t have a car, walked the four miles between Blythedale and Eagleville to get to and from work every day. Business was not always booming at this shop, either. One day, he had one haircut for 25 cents, then one shave the next day for 15 cents, and the following day, another 25-cent haircut. “I walked 24 miles for 65 cents that week,” he recalled with a laugh.

The shop in Eagleville remained open for around four years, and when the war broke out, Burnette went to Kansas City to work for North American Aviation. After the war, he worked in Hotel Phillips for five years before buying a three-chair barbershop just six blocks from the Country Club Plaza. This was his most successful business venture, as this shop remained open from 1942 until 1992.

Part of the reason that Burnette enjoyed his work so much is that he enjoyed meeting people and didn’t like to feel alone, and he definitely had the chance to meet some important people during his 50 years in the business. He remembers how he worked on the superintendent of construction at Worlds of Fun and cut Henry and Richard Block’s hair, more commonly known as the founders of H&R Block, when they were kids. Because he had become so respected for his work, Burnette was asked to host a class in his shop to teach other barbers in the area how to properly shave.

During his time in Kansas City, Burnette and his wife, Mary, had four children. His children attended high school not far from his shop, and Burnette would go home every night after work to spend time with them. Bill, his oldest son, even followed in his footsteps and became a barber. He is now retired after 34 years in the business.

Following his retirement, Burnette and Mary moved from Kansas City to Bethany and bought a house in the Daily Addition. Even though he was retired, Burnette said he never felt like he had retired, mainly because for years he would drive to Kansas City for the six or seven clients he still had.

In 2004, Mary passed away after 67 years of marriage. Following her death, Burnette’s daughter moved to Bethany to care for him. He now resides in the Bethany Care Center, and has been there for a little over a year.

Many of his friends know him as a kind and modest man with a great sense of humor, and one even commented that he is one of the best people he has ever met. Burnette said that if there were one thing that people could remember about him, it would be this:  “I love them all. I’ve had a good life, met a lot of nice people. I’ve been happy.”