James R Burns

Jim was born to James Clement Burns and Lillian Burns on May 25, 1931, and had one sister, Geraldine, who is now 95 years old and living in Rochester, NY.  He had an adventurous childhood growing up in Rochester in the 1930’s and 40’s.  At times Jim spoke of the antics he got involved with as a boy skiing at Cobb Hill, playing basketball, swimming with friends, and breaking his nose trying to sled down a stairway to a subway station!

He served in the Navy from 1952 – 1956 during the Korean War.  He was stationed on the USS Ingersoll, a Navy ship that sailed all around the world, and while aboard the crew received distinct recognition for crossing the equator. After his service in the Navy, he returned home and obtained an Electrical Engineering degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He worked at Bausch & Lomb initially, and later Xerox, from where he retired in 1992.

He met his wife Lee at the Roaring Brook Dude Ranch in the summer of 1963 in Lake George, NY. They had a somewhat disconnected courtship between Long Island and Rochester for a time; and then got married on May 9th, 1964.  They went on to have three children, son Micheal Burns, daughter Maria Claudet, and son Daniel Burns.

He was a kind and dedicated father.  He was always available for his kids if they needed help with anything...learning to ride a bike, baiting a fishhook, finding the right kind of hiking stick, or just flying a kite.  He took pleasure in the beauty of nature, and often made a point to show his family what made our natural surroundings so beautiful, like the light reflecting off colorful leaves in the fall, or the silhouette of a ship in the distance on Lake Ontario, picturesque mountain ranges, or even an unusual insect that happened to cross his path. This is one of many gifts he passed on to his children, an appreciation for the beauty around us, and for this his family is grateful.

Outdoors is where Jim liked to spend a lot of his time.  He loved spending time in the Finger Lakes to go hiking, have picnics, or to go on long Sunday drives.  He was very active with downhill skiing in the winter and playing golf in the summer.  He enjoyed wonderful family ski trips in the Adirondacks, Vermont, and right near home at Bristol Mountain.

One of Jim’s hobbies was winemaking.  His family remembers the smell of fermenting grape juice coming from the basement, and the chill of the small wine cellar he built in the basement to house his homemade wine collection.  He usually made wine from grape juice he bought from local vineyards.  However, he did try growing some of his own grapes. When his home-grown grapes were ripe and harvested, even the neighborhood kids got involved in the winemaking process.  He would set up his wine press in the garage and proceed to press the juice from his grapes in front of an audience of about 7 or 8 neighborhood kids. He became very skilled at winemaking and won first place in the local wine club competition, and 4th place in a NY State competition for his infamous Cayuga White wine.

In addition to winemaking, he was also quite a gardener.  Over the years we had bountiful harvests of zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, asparagus, corn and of course grapes.   

After retiring from Xerox in 1992, Jim, his wife Lee and the family enjoyed some wonderful times at their lake cottage in Cape Vincent, New York, which is a lovely town that sits at the junction of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.  He and Lee had many memorable family gatherings up there, which Jim really enjoyed.

He adored his Catholic faith!  He loved going to daily mass at St. Helens, and had a very active prayer life, even saying the Rosary daily up until his final days. When living in New York Jim belonged to the Knights of Columbus working on housing for the poor, and other forms of charity. He was an excellent example of a man of faith, and his family is grateful to have been a witness to his staunch faith, his loving nature and compassion for others.  Since his passing, many have expressed what a beautiful person he was, kind and gentle.   We, his family, couldn’t agree more.  He will be sorely missed by Lee, his wife, his three children, and his seven grandchildren.  

We’ll miss you Jim, we love you.