Paul Thomas Burnett, 88 of Newberry passed away Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at Newberry County Memorial Hospital from heart failure. He was born in Valatie, New York on August 19, 1933, the son of Arthur Cornelius Burnett and Audrey Hazel Smith Burnett. Paul served in the Air Force during the Korean War rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was always grateful for the GI Bill which allowed him to receive an excellent education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He earned a BS in Physics and a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. After college he was employed by Atomics International in California. He then worked on the Hallam sodium cooled nuclear reactor in Nebraska. He moved his family to Buffalo, New York where he worked at a research nuclear reactor at the University of Buffalo. In the 70's he joined the Nuclear Regulatory Commission where he was a Nuclear Reactor Inspector until he retired. After retirement, Paul and Marge moved to Suffolk, England where he was a consultant for the building of the pressurized water nuclear reactor at Sizewell. Paul is survived by his loving "older" wife of 66 years, Marjorie Long Burnett who could perfectly organize Thanksgiving dinner to be hot and ready at half-time. Together they raised their daughters Susan Burnett Lowe and Martha Audrey Burnett fostering in them a love of camping, nature, reading, education and travel. Paul and Marge visited foreign locals from the Canary Islands to Honduras and Hong Kong. They particularly loved the fifteen years they spent logging thousands of miles traveling North America full-time with their Airstream trailer. As a life-long amateur photographer, he took thousands of photos and enjoyed entertaining relatives with his slide shows. He was a member of the Cobb Photo Society, Georgia where he enjoyed photo competitions. They made their home base in the Victoria Palms community in Donna, Texas for 17 years before relocating to Newberry, South Carolina. In addition to his wife and daughters, Paul is also survived by his grandchildren Rebecca Deneitra Jackson (Scott), Jameson Michael Lowe, Major Eric Gregory Little, USAF (Remza), Alexis Morgan Lowe (Ryan), and Shannon Michelle Lowe; great grandchildren, Jasmine Elizabeth, Savannah Audrey, Jeremyah "Ty" and Sierra Charlotte Jackson; younger brother Clark Warren Burnett (Paula), brother-in-law Dennis Cline, sisters-in-law Virginia Long Salisbury, Jeanie Hendrick Burnett; and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his younger brother Peter Arthur Burnett, younger sister Audrey Ann "Penny" Cline and son-in-law Colonel James Michael Lowe, USMC (ret). The family wishes to thank the excellent staff of the Prisma Heart Hospital, Columbia, the local Fresenius Dialysis Center, numerous specialty Doctors and Lovelace Family Medicine whose excellent care allowed Paul to spend more time with his family. Expressions of sympathy and memories may be shared with the family at whitakerfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Virginia Tech College of Science or Engineering at http://give.vt.edu in memory of Paul T. Burnett Class of 1958