For 73 years there was no headstone or other marker at her grave site.
Feature Story
After 74 Years a KC Golf Hall of Fame Women Golfer Gets Eternally Honored
For 73 years there was no headstone or other marker at her grave site.
Editorial by Don Kuehn, story by Jimmy the Caddie
The Kansas City area is rich with golf history and legends of the game, some famously known, others lost in the record books. On May 30, a group of history and golf buffs held a tribute to Miriam Burns( Horn) Tyson, the 1927 U. S. Women’ s Amateur Champion and a member of the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame class of 2013.
In 1930, at the age of 26, Miriam Burns( Horn) Tyson, a Kansas City golf legend and national champion, retired from competitive golf. After traveling the world with her second husband, George Tyson, Miriam died of pneumonia at the age of 47( 1904-1951) in Kansas City.
“ Author and well-known Kansas City-area photographer Bruce Mathews was researching material for one of his‘ coffee table’ books on the four major cemeteries and the famous people interred therein, when he discovered that Miriam Burns’ ashes were buried at the historic Forest Hill Cemetery, but alas, there was no headstone or other marker at her grave site,” said Don Kuehn, Chair of the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame Committee, Central Links Golf.
“ Ms. Burns( later Horn) Tyson was the daughter of Clinton Burns, co-founder of Burns and McDonnell Engineering,” said Kuehn.“ It seemed strange that the child of such a prominent family would not have a headstone to mark her final resting place.”
Kuehn said,“ In the interim, we were contacted by Keith Tyson, who is the grandson of Ms. Burns. Until his emails, we had no idea that there were any living relatives of the Tyson branch of her family tree. When she was inducted into the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame in 2013, we were unable to locate anyone to represent her.”
As it turned out, Keith Tyson, his wife Ashley, two children, and one grandchild were able to come to Kansas City for the ceremony.
“ In 2012, the Kansas City Golf Association( KCGA) was celebrating its centennial,” said Kuehn.“ I was asked if I’ d be interested in chairing the Centennial Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors, I’ ll admit, I kinda jumped at the chance.” Two things came from that centennial celebration: the“ Committee” established the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame, and Kuehn wrote about the history of the KCGA( now Central Links Golf).
Since its inception, the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame( KCGHOF) has honored 26 individuals, one family, and one group of brave men who integrated KC’ s public golf in the 1950s.
Kuehn says,“ We’ re actually quite proud of the fact that the‘ Hall’ includes amateurs as well as professionals; men and women; public and private course players; superintendents; pioneers of the game; and others who made golf in this region great.”
Some of those inducted might be familiar names to you. People like Tom Watson, Jim Colbert, Charles Lewis III, Tom Pernice Jr., and Mary Jane Barnes. Others are probably not as well known, but no less significant to the history of golf in this area. Names like James Dalgleish— called“ The Father of Kansas City Golf,” Carolyn Lee, Karen Schull MacGee, Maxine Johnson, and many others.
The first KCGHOF class of honorees, inducted in 2013, included seven very special people.
Bruce Mathews( second from left) speaks to family and friends of KC golf legend Miriam Burns( Horn) Tyson gathered around her headstone for a May 30th dedication ceremony. Mathews discovered that Miriam Burns ashes were buried at KC’ s Forest Hill Cemetery but there was no headstone or other marker at her grave site and lead the charge to buy one for her.( Photo courtesy Bryan Fairbanks of Burns & McDonnell.)
Mathews, Kuehn, Tom Watson, Burns & McDonnell, and others set out to rectify this situation. They purchased an appropriate marker and dedicated it during a ceremony on May 30.
It included Chet Mendenhall, a pioneer in the art and science of agronomy and turf grass development, he was superintendent at Mission Hills for 31 years; Bob Reid, long-time executive director of the KCGA as well as a national expert on the rules of golf; Leland“ Duke” Gibson who played in eight Masters Tournaments and— for some 25 years— he was the head professional at Blue Hills; Stan Thirsk, an accomplished player, renowned teacher, a member of the PGA Golf Professionals Hall of Fame, and the head pro at Kansas City Country Club for 29 years. Tom Watson has been inducted into numerous Halls of Fame. He won the Missouri Amateur four times, was the Kansas City Match Play Champion twice, and as a professional, he’ s an eighttime Major Champion— along with six more Senior Majors. We’ d need a full page to cover all his outstanding records.
16 August 2025 TEE TIMES GOLF GUIDE