Maria M. Antonia Verso, MD Verso Burt

Maria Verso Burt (M. Antonia Verso, MD)

After a series of hemorrhagic strokes, Dr. Toni Verso, 77, of Tempe, AZ passed away on May 24, 2018, with her adult children Jenny and Clif and husband Don at her side. She was preceded in death by her father Joseph and mother Mary and is survived by her brother Jim “Duke” Verso and his wife Kathy, her son-in-law Marcus Maxon, plus numerous nieces and cousins. This includes her cousin, Diane Wright, who in many ways was like a sister to her.

Toni was born in 1940 in Buffalo, NY and lived there, except for college and medical school, until 1971. She was a graduate of St. Bonaventure University (Cum Laude in Biology) and Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (now part of Drexel University in Philadelphia). Her medical specialty was endocrinology (board-certified). She met her husband, Prof. Donald M. Burt, a geologist, in 1971 while she was doing a pediatric endocrine fellowship in Toronto and they were married in Buffalo in 1972. They then spent a few years moving around while her husband taught geology at the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) and Yale University (New Haven, CT) while she continued to practice medicine. They permanently moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1975 and shortly afterwards had their two children.

While her husband taught at Arizona State University, she variously treated endocrine and other patients at Maricopa Medical Center, ASU Health Services, The National Institutes of Health Research Unit, CIGNA Healthplan, Phoenix Endocrinology Clinic, Banner Health Specialty Clinic, and Pediatric/Adult Endocrine Clinic Gilbert. In addition she served patients to rural areas by offering day-clinics in Page, Payson, and other areas. She also authored or co-authored numerous research papers and served as principal or sub-investigator in numerous clinical research studies. On top of all this, from 1986-1996 she served as volunteer Director of Camp AZDA (known as “Doc”) of the Arizona Chapter of the American Diabetes Association, where young summer campers were taught to deal successfully with Type 1 diabetes and yet lead active outdoor lives. She also was active in numerous professional and business organizations, and in 2005 was honored among the national Top Ten Women in Business for the American Business Women’s Association.

Two of Toni’s lifelong passions were fine music (including opera), because her father had been a professional musician and teacher of music, and basketball (including front row seats for the Phoenix Mercury, from their inaugural playing season), because she had been on the inaugural women’s team for St. Bonaventure, and later had coached women’s basketball at a small college in Buffalo. She also loved a good murder mystery, the TV show Jeopardy, and other activities that challenged her memory and intellect.

Unfortunately for her patients, slowly failing health necessitated her retirement from medicine in 2016. While active she was known for her brilliance (which included learning Spanish specifically to better serve her Hispanic patients), diligence, generosity, personal warmth, and joyful sense of humor. She will be much missed, especially by her husband of 45 years, grown children, and numerous close friends and former colleagues. A funeral mass will be held at 10 AM on June 12, 2018, at Resurrection Catholic Church of Tempe, located at 3201 S. Evergreen Rd. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Vincent de Paul (where she also donated her medical services). Visit tempemortuary.com to express on-line remembrances or condolences.