Olga S. Burn

Olga (Bonnie), Burn 8/4/1937 - 1/20/2016 Las Cruces, New Mexico Olga Marie (Bonnie) Super Burn, died on January 20, 2016, at the age of 78, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Bonnie was born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, on August 4, 1937. She was the daughter of Helen Melovich and Joseph Super, second generation of immigrant families from Ladimirovia, Czechoslovakia and Belarus, Russia. She was the wife of Reed Robert (Bob) Burn, the mother of Jennifer, Helen, and Reed Burn, Jr., and the grandmother of Christopher and Stephannie Burn. Known as Bonnie, she spent her formative years in Nuremberg, Germany, where her father was assigned to a U.S. Army base. While living there, she experienced first-hand the devastation of World War II, an experience that shaped her future point of view about social justice issues and domestic and foreign policy. She held a bachelor of arts degree in Sociology at the University of California, San Diego, and a master of science in health administration at Central Michigan University. Education was a passion, and she viewed it as a life-long experience. Bonnie completed a 20-year career at the University of Michigan, beginning in the late 1970s in the Affirmative Action Office and culminating in her role as Administrative Manager of the University of Michigan Hospitals Nursing Department from which she retired in 1996. Her husband of 55 years, Bob, also served the University of Michigan in a leadership position at the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory. Upon retirement, she and Bob moved to Fort Myers, Florida, and, since 2006, have resided in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Throughout her life, Bonnie was a community activist and served as president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Las Cruces and Lee County, Florida. Bonnie was awarded the Las Cruces Mayor's Distinguished Service Award, a Certificate of Recognition from the Las Cruces Public School Board, and the Bonnie Burn Scholarship was established in her name by the Greater Las Cruces League of Women Voters to be awarded to a Las Cruces graduating senior high school student who will attend New Mexico State University in the School of Education. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, and mother-in-law, Thelma Erlewine Burn. Visitation 9:30-10:30 AM, Saturday, February 6, 2016, followed by burial at 11:00 AM at Forest Hills Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the League of Women Voters. Bonnie was passionate, charismatic, and caring. She will be missed deeply by her family and friends. Muehlig Funeral Home.