Ronald Eugene Burnham

Ron passed away quietly from a short illness on Thursday, July 6th at the Victoria General Hospital. His family and friends were with him in the days before he faded and he left knowing how much he is loved.

Ron was a kind man and generous. Family and friends were his priorities. His time and money were gladly given to anyone in need as attested by the multitude of charities he has helped. When the little league baseball team had no coach, he stepped up and continued to coach for several more years. Dad could see the humour in things, especially the bizarre and ironic. He had a growl, but it was aimed mostly at himself and was quickly replaced with his great laugh. He was the man to have in a crisis.

Music was an important part of Ron’s life. Whether performing upright bass with the Skylighters, plucking his homemade electric base, or playing the hay-way-in (as his mom would say) guitar, he was in his element. Truly an artist, Ron had natural talent, whether drafting a bus shelter for his job at Saanich or recreating the intricate latticework of a 100-year-old confessional at St. Andrew’s. He was a prolific writer of fiction, although, he didn’t submit his novels for publication, and of fact; over fifty of his articles were published in The Islander, BC Outdoors, and other Canadian journals. Evolutio and the Frog is a little book that Dad created and shared with children of all ages. He painted a little, sculpted a little, carved some, and built, resurrected, and repaired boats, a lot. He loved to go out on the water.

Ron was the groundskeeper and Head of the Maintenance Department at Little Jack Horner Child Centre. He could reverse engineer almost anything. He would find, fabricate, or invent a part to fix eighty-year-old, or unusual DIY constructs. Many children delighted in the trains, pirate ships, major appliances, storage solutions, furnishings and more that Dad built. From blood, sweat, and fear of the look from Sandra, he rightfully earned the title of “Mr. Fix-it”.

With Sandra, and sometimes with friends, Ron travelled to many places, Hawaii, Alaska, much of the contiguous United States, Europe, Yukon and most of the Canadian Provinces and left his footprints all over BC and one of his favourite places, Barkerville. He was active with the Mt. View High School reunion group. And he liked to prepare and present short “talks” on various subjects. He went back to the University of Victoria as a student in his fifties and was awarded a master’s degree in arts and earned bachelor’s degrees in both arts and fine arts.

Memories of Ron and his love are cherished by his son, Charlie (Pamela), daughter, Lori (Erik), and daughter, Margaret; grandchildren, Katie, Emily, Jordan, A.J. and Nicole; great-grandkids, Kyle, Logan and Haley; cousin, Paulene, and many second-cousins, nieces and nephews; life-long friends, Rod and Helen and their family; and his beautiful wife of 63 years, Sandy. He is predeceased by his sisters, Vera Sampson and Pheobe Cunningham.

The Burnham and Gjos families wish to express their gratitude to all the kind people of 5A/B who took such good care of Ron and made his stay at hospital comfortable and supported his loved ones during that time.

A Celebration of Ron’s life will be held at First Memorial, 4725 Falaise Drive in Royal Oak. Visitation 11:00 to 12:00, celebration at 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in Ron’s memory may be made to Muscular Dystrophy Canada, www.muscle.ca/donate, Reg. 107755837RR0001.