Joseph Samuel Burns

Joseph lived his life with a common purpose to achieve harmony through humility. He gave the best he could to all he could, every time he could. He understood his own imperfections, vulnerabilities, and inabilities but never succumbed to them, which allowed him to “see the forest for the trees”. The “sky is the limit” he was wont to say. He was the eternal optimist who saw opportunities where others saw obstacles.

He preferred organization and planning over impetuousness and chaos. Yet, he harbored no contempt for others with whom his structured approach to things were often at odds. Instead, he shifted focus and energy towards garnering a better sense of the “why” things are as they are, even as he fortified his tolerance, understanding, knowledge and purpose. He gave his best to bring people together particularly family. His blend of commonsense, compassion, and mercy made him an “extraordinary ordinary man” who was as natural a leader, as he was a loyal but conscious follower.

He learned and practiced balance and outside of the limelight, he was first to counsel against the vices of focusing too much on the evolutionary aspect of the “what we are” – he saw great risks with being overly preoccupied with “what we are”. On the contrary, he found great delight and interest in highlighting the virtues of “the who we are” faults and all. He did so with the view to encourage adjustment, continuous improvement, levity, joy, peace, and spirituality, but with grace, good conscience, and God as the solid foundation.

Rest in Peace, Joseph, your memory will always be a blessing.