Necrology
Andrew Conover Burns, Sr. '78
Jun. 26, 1956-Oct. 30, 2020
When it came to his family, his hometown, his business, and his alma mater, Andrew Conover Burns, Sr. ’78 seemed to possess a boundless capacity for love, generosity, and hard work.
A proud seventh-generation resident of Clinton, N.Y., Burns stayed rooted in his hometown even when his career in finance took him and his family elsewhere. In 2007, when Burns co-founded Hamilton Point Investment and relocated to Chapel Hill, N.C., he kept an office at his home in Clinton.
Burns’ roots at Hamilton ran just as deep as his roots in the community. The third generation of his family to attend the College, he was an extraordinary supporter of both town and gown. Largely thanks to Burns’ efforts, the small town of Clinton, N.Y., received national attention in 2018 when it was declared Kraft Hockeyville USA and the Clinton Arena played host to an NHL preseason game.
Burns died on Oct. 30, 2020, in his Chapel Hill home. “Andy accomplished in 64 years what should have taken 164,” his family said in his published obituary.
He was born in Clinton on June 26, 1956, to Nicholas Burns ’46 and Claire Conover Burns. His grandfather was Gregory Burns, Class of 1914. After graduating from high school, Burns followed a family tradition by enrolling at the College up the Hill.
“Hamilton had an impact on me long before freshman year,” he wrote in his 25th reunion yearbook. “I was the twelfth Burns descendent of Patrick Owen Burns (Clinton grocer) to graduate and grew up attending Hamilton football and hockey games. Hamilton taught me to write, defend an argument, and caused me to make friends for life. I am forever grateful.”
An economics major, Burns pledged Psi Upsilon fraternity and participated on the golf team. Among his favorite College memories were hanging out with a gang of fellow first-year Dunham residents and talking about music, classes, women, fraternities, and their pasts. He recalled laughing so hard (many times) that he had to leave the room to compose himself. He also remembered PSI parties and Commons Carnivals, which he ran in 1977 and 1978.
After Hamilton, he launched his career in finance in New York City, where he met Julia Wilkerson; they married on Nov. 1, 1981. His career took them to Winston-Salem, then Richmond, Va., and in 1992, they moved to Clinton with Burns joining Strategic Investment Advisors, Inc., in Utica. After 15 years there, he founded Hamilton Point with a business partner.
“Andy loved analyzing companies and markets. His renowned newsletters described complicated financial issues in a simple, humorous manner. Above all, Andy cherished the personal relationships he built with his clients, employees, and partners. He loved Hamilton Point and poured his energy into the company until the end,” his published obituary said.
He also poured energy into Hamilton and his hometown. He was an original member of the committee that oversees the Hamilton College Town-Gown Fund, which awards money to nonprofit organizations and government agencies in Clinton and Kirkland. The fund honored Burns in February 2021 with a $5,000 grant to the Country Pantry in his memory.
“Andy’s love for his hometown was exceeded only by the energy he put forth to make it better,” said Hamilton President David Wippman upon announcing the grant. “I know this would have meant a lot to him. The committee unanimously supported this tribute in his memory.”
Burns’ support for Hamilton was expansive. He was a longtime president of the Class of 1978, regional chair for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill regional alumni group, a reunion planning committee member, and host of everything from reunion cocktail parties to the College Choir and Continentals sports teams when they traveled south to North Carolina.
Burns quietly built alumni support in multiple ways. To honor his commitment to town-gown relations, in 2021 his family and friends established The Andrew C. Burns Memorial Scholarship for students who demonstrate financial need.
For all that he did for Hamilton, Burns received one of the College’s highest honors in 2019 — the Jeff Little ’71 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Alumni Association. He also received a Key Award in 2013 for being “class president extraordinaire,” and, in 2018, he was recognized for planning and organizing “Thank You Albert Prettyman,” a weekend long celebration of Hamilton hockey’s centennial.
One might say that Hamilton hockey was part of Burns’ DNA. In the years following World War II, the “Burns boys” — brothers Nick ’46, Owney ’47, and Dick Burns ’49, along with their cousins Bernie ’48 and Jim Burns ’49 — would all play varsity hockey and together make an enormous contribution to the success of the Continentals on the ice.
In addition to all his Clinton and Hamilton work in the Chapel Hill area, Burns was a member of the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club, supported the Durham Nativity School, and served on the board of the Orange County Habitat for Humanity. Hamilton Point supported the SECU Family House, Ronald McDonald House, and Methodist Home for Children. Burns was inducted into the Home’s Guardian Angel Society.
Burns was an avid golfer, played pool like a shark, and rarely met his match in pingpong, his family said. The Grateful Dead provided the soundtrack to his life.
“He often said that making people laugh was the nicest thing you could do for them. His spontaneous wit brought laughter to all. He could instantly connect with people from all walks of life. He dearly loved his family,” the published obituary said.
Burns is survived by his wife, three children, five siblings, and 14 nieces and nephews. His living Hamilton relatives include brother William Burns ’88 and cousins Owen Burns ’73, Gregory Gilroy ’83, Amanda Pooler ’08, Kate Thomes ’84, and Kyle Thomes ’90.
