Gilbert Leo Burns, 84, passed November 27 at Southwood Nursing Home in Norwell with his wife of 55 years, Phyllis Leonard Burns, at his side. He was the beloved father of Jennifer Bosch and her husband, Fritz, of Medford and Stephen Gilbert Burns and his wife, Joan, of Paris, France. He had two grandchildren, Allison Burns of Pittsburgh and Christopher Stephen Burns of Washington D.C., and he was the beloved uncle of seven nieces and nephews who live in New York, Washington D.C. Florida, California and Arizona. Their beloved son, Daniel, died in 1991. His first wife Ellen died in 1956. Born in White Plains, New York, he graduated from White Plains High School in 1945 and while there volunteered as a cadet observer in the US Army Air Force Auxiliary Air Observer Corps that manned towers and reported air craft that flew over the area. In August 1945 while he was visiting Mitchell Air Force on Long Island a news broadcast reported that Hiroshima, Japan had been bombed. These experiences led him to join the U.S. Army, and later entered the US Military Academy at West Point graduating in 1952. He earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1957 where he met Phyllis. He served his country in the Korean War and in Germany with the 237th Engineer Battalion, and he commanded the 19th Engineer Battalion in Vietnam and earned a Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star. He was also assigned to Iran in 1964 where he was the only American on an international team to build Hamadan Airport which still exists today. His military career included teaching ROTC at Penn State University’s Ogontz campus where he was awarded professor of the year in 1964. His tours at the Pentagon and the Engineer Strategic Studies Group were recognized by two Commendation Medals in 1968 and 1969. Gil was fond of telling people that he chose Marshfield in 1979 and was happy that Marshfield chose him to serve the town as Superintendent of Public Works and later the Town of Duxbury as Highway Supervisor.
Gil loved life and enjoyed his retirement by becoming a chair “bottomer”, caning hundreds of chairs and dressing the part at the Marshfield Fair, Farm Day and the Winslow House. He liked to walk, paint, travel and sing, and he had a great sense of humor. In 2008 he received the Mayflower Award from the Historic Winslow House Association and an outstanding service medal from the Marshfield Historical Society for his years of volunteering at the school house. Monday, December 10, 2012 you are invited to his military burial at 10:30 a.m. at Couch Cemetery off Union Street in North Marshfield followed by a celebration of his life worship service at North Community Church on 72 Old Main Street in Marshfield Hills at 12 noon, where he was an active member. If you wish to think of him consider taking a walk and picking up litter or singing a song. Memorial contributions can be made to North Community Church Choir Fund, Box 2, Marshfield Hills, MA 02051. On line guestbook please visit macdonaldfuneralhome.com