Necrology

Phillip Joseph Burns '54

Jul. 17, 1932-Apr. 20, 2021

Phillip “Phil” Joseph Burns ’54 died on April 20, 2021, in Portland, Maine. Born on July 17, 1932, in Binghamton, N.Y., he came to Hamilton from Binghamton Central High School. On the Hill he majored in literature and history and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. 

Two weeks after he graduated, Phil was taking basic training at Fort Dix, N.J. Honorably discharged two years later with the rank of specialist 3, he took advantage of the educational opportunities offered by the Korean War GI Bill and prepared for a career as an agricultural economist at the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University. 

From Cornell he went to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. During that period, he traveled to Denmark to observe its food exporting business, and while there, he met Jeanne McMahon, an Australian nurse who was traveling through Europe at that time. They were married in Binghamton on Feb. 24, 1962. 

He then took up a career with the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which took him all over the country. His first job for the USDA was in Buffalo, N.Y. Jeanne and he lived in Fort Erie, Ontario, just across the Niagara River from Buffalo, for two years while she waited out the period of time required to get a green card and take up residence in the U.S.

Thereafter, his profession took them to Oregon and Maine. In 1993, he retired after 28 years of service, and they relocated to North Carolina. Reflecting on his career in his Hamilton 50th reunion yearbook, Phil stated that: “I was fortunate to work in two beautiful parts of the U.S. — the Pacific Northwest and northern New England. My work as an agricultural economist with an environmental agency allowed me to make a small contribution to both the economy and the environment. It entailed much outside work which I loved. Working in an office drives me nuts.”

Retiring to Weaverville, N.C., located just north of Asheville in the Great Smoky Mountains, Phil was a devoted grandfather, volunteered with Reading for the Blind, and cared for his wife who died in 2017.

Hamilton’s influence was profound: “Many of the benefits of a liberal education, I feel, are taken for granted and are difficult to quantify and articulate. However, one that immediately comes to mind is the improvement in a person’s analytical reasoning. I particularly appreciate the training I received in Professor John Blyth’s logic class.”

Phillip J. Burns is survived by one brother, his four children, and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother John W. Burns ’52.

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