Obituary of Bill Burns
William "Bill" John Burns
October 1, 1947 - December 17, 2024
It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of William "Bill" John Burns at home, surrounded by the unwavering love of his family. Beloved husband and best friend of his loving wife Sharon for 52 years. Very proud father of his daughters Erin and Shanna and their husbands Trevor and Jeff. Bill cherished his role as Grampy to his four wonderful grandchildren Lindsay, Ryan, Ben and Josie. He loved watching them play hockey, soccer, and curling, and dance at recitals. As a dad he did the same, always attending his daughters' concerts, activities, recitals, and competitions. He will be dearly missed by his sister Candice, his brother-in-law Sean (Charyl) and many friends. He will be fondly remembered by his nieces Laura, Alyssa and Olivia, and nephews Martin, Michael and David. Predeceased by his parents Alan and Belva (Coleman) Burns and sister-in-law Maureen (Goff) Bennett. Born in Barrie, Ontario on October 1, 1947, Bill grew up in Quebec moving from Sherbrooke to Otterburn Park and then finally to Montreal. He attended St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and received a Business Administration Degree from Concordia University in Montreal.
Bill was the Transportation Manager at GM Diesel and then General Dynamics, a job that he thoroughly enjoyed. This job provided him with the opportunity to pursue his love of travel and visit many countries around the world. Many of the people that he worked with have remained friends in retirement. He loved travelling, especially by train and organized many family vacations around the world. His favourite destination was always Lucerne and the mountains in Switzerland. As a lifelong train enthusiast, he did many vacations in Europe by rail. He became a tour director and organized vacations for European train enthusiasts on the rail lines in Canada.
Over the years Bill was a strong supporter of theatre. He enjoyed plays at the Grand Theatre, The Stratford Festival and concerts with Jeans and Classics. Heading to Niagara Falls for a few days and watching a number of plays at The Shaw Festival became an August anniversary celebration that he organized for many years. He enjoyed spending time golfing with friends, especially the Divine Golfers. He spent many years skiing but was forced to give this up after his Multiple Myeloma diagnosis in 2014. In his spare time, he could be found reading spy novels, watching rail travelogues or running his model trains in the basement.
In June, Bill was given the sad news from his care team that the cancers were growing too aggressively to continue treatment. His unwavering strength and bravery were evident when his response was "I wish we were boarding a ship to Iceland like we were supposed to in September, but I guess I'm going on an unexplored rail line. There's a siding where a train is waiting..."
Special thanks to Bill's oncologist, Dr. Martha Louzada and her team, for ten years of unwavering care at the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre. A very special thanks to the members of the Multiple Myeloma Support Group for their friendship and support. The family wishes to express their sincere gratitude to the Home Palliative Care Team of PSWs, VONs, nurses and Dr. Achtar for their care and support of Bill at home for the past four months.
Friends and family will be received at John T. Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street at King Street, on Sunday, December 22 from 2-5pm. Funeral Mass will be held at St. John the Divine Church, 390 Baseline Road West, on Monday, December 23 at 11:00am. Interment at St. Peter's Cemetery Monday at 2:45pm.
As an expression of sympathy, in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Bill may be made C/O LHSF.ca to Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre in support of Multiple Myeloma research or a charity of your choice.
