Leanne Burnett

1959 - 2025

Leanne Burnett
08/12/1959 - 11/04/2025
Leanne Burnett, physician, mother, and friend, died peacefully at her home in Fresno, TX on November 4, 2025.

Leanne is survived by her daughter, Alix Christine Halter and husband, Benjamin Charles Beaty; her son, Ian Lee Halter and wife, Alison Jesper; and her sister, Donna Burnett. She is predeceased by her husband, John Halter; her parents, Yvonne and Travis Burnett; and her sister, Ira Crain.

Leanne was born in Houston on August 12, 1959. She earned her Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering at Rice University before continuing to Baylor College of Medicine, where she earned her M.D. and completed residency. Leanne received her board certification in neurology, and completed a dual fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine Division of Restorative Neurology and Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders. As a neurologist, Leanne devoted a majority of her career to serving the Clear Lake community. There, she saw patients at the private practice she founded, Clear Lake Neurology, as well as at local hospitals, including service as Chief of Staff at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. Following private practice, Leanne treated patients at UT Physicians' and Houston Methodist Clear Lake before retiring in 2020 after thirty-four years of practicing medicine.

Leanne employed her intellect and experience beyond the workplace as well. She maintained a career-long association with the Houston Area Parkinson Society, which she ultimately served as president for a number of years. Later in her career, Leanne was appointed by the governor to the Texas Medical Board Review Committee, where she applied her expertise to evaluating medical practice and professional competencies.

Alongside an impressive career were Leanne's many passions and pursuits. Leanne was a lifelong practitioner of colored-pencil drawing, with this artistic ability eventually extending to watercolors, gouache, and pastels. She enjoyed baking, an interest that began with her children's birthday cakes with designs lifted from magazines, but thereafter developed into a drive to experiment--to create and decorate baked treats that were uniquely her own. Leanne's affection for fiction would be difficult to overstate; from the instant she could read, she did, and did again. In the life lived from her childhood bedroom to the home she and her husband designed, Leanne's appetite for reading never wavered. And whether drawing, baking, reading or resting, her much-adored Westies were always near at hand, ready to love and be loved. Leanne will be profoundly missed by family, friends, and all who knew her.

A celebration of life is scheduled for 12 to 3 P.M. at Saint Arnold's Brewery in Houston on Saturday, November 22 at 2000 Lyons Ave. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Houston Area Parkinson Society at their website: haps.org/support/.