Ollie C. Burtz was born on January 30, 1923, in Georgia; his parents, George C. and Bertha, owned a farm, and he had two older siblings, Bessie and Leo. During World War II, he became a pilot with the United States Navy, and was trained at the United States Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois; the United States Navy Pre-Flight School in Athens, Georgia; and the United States Navy Air Station in Memphis, Tennessee. He died on May 17, 1990.
From the guide to the Ollie Burtz papers, Burtz, Ollie papers, 1944, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)