John “Jack” Burns of Clarks Summit, died on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at home surrounded by family. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Lois Reed Burns. Born in 1930 to Dr. Hugh R. Burns and Sara
Schmucker Burns in Scranton, he graduated from the rst four-year graduating class of Scranton
Preparatory School in 1948. In 1953, Jack graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He
served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for four years in the European theater
An accomplished professional engineer and entrepreneur, he started his civilian career as an electricalengineer with PPL. He founded the architectural and engineering rm, Burns and Kearns in 1959, andearned his MBA from the University of Scranton in 1963. Jack served as a principal and director as therm grew and evolved as Burns Kearns & Lowe, Burns & Lowe, and Burns Associates through the next
30 years. He also developed and led separate specialty engineering rms including Midlantic DesignP.C., until his retirement in 1997
Jack’s sense of service to community lasted a lifetime. He served as a director and as campaign chairman of the United Way of Lackawanna County for several years in the 1970s, as well as on many civicboards, including the YMCA, Catholic Social Services and as President of a regional chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers from 1992-1993. Jack was a dedicated ESL teacher for SCOLA,
where he was honored as Volunteer of the Year in 2001 for his service in helping immigrant families
adjust to life and language in the United States. He was a faithful member of Our Lady of Snows Parish
for over 60 years and renowned lector of the 7 a.m. Mass.

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A 50-year member of the the Country Club of Scranton, Jack served on the Board of Directors for nine
years and was instrumental in many course and facility upgrades as a director and member. He was acompetitive and accomplished golfer and followed in his father’s footsteps as a three-time Club Cham-sfi

John “Jack” Burnpion, winning in 1968, 1970 and 1976, and later added the Men’s Senior Club Championship to his accomplishments
In retirement, Jack discovered a love of duplicate bridge which he generously shared through teaching.
He attained the prestigious rank of Ruby Master. As an ACBL-certi ed bridge director, he and Lois
traveled throughout Europe and South America as tournament directors on cruise ships. They also
managed and operated the NEPA Duplicate Bridge Club in the Scranton region for over a decade
An ardent lifelong fan of Army West Point Athletics, Jack was not only a dedicated Black Knight football fan, but a follower of all sports played by the cadets. He enjoyed cheering on his teams at West
Point throughout the years, and traveled extensively to watch games and matches. Go Army
Jack is also survived by his four children - Mary Alice Burns (John Schmidt), Hugh (Nadia), Tim (Judy)and Cathy O’Rourke (Tim). He has twelve grandchildren: Melissa Heath, Emily Burns, Sarah Clarke,
Kathleen Burns, Sean Burns, Meghan Burns, Colleen Starke, Joseph O’Rourke, Daniel O’Rourke, KatieBurns, Peter Burns and Samantha Burns, and two great-grandchildren, Remy Ann Starke and Aiden
Clarke. He was preceded in death by his brother, Lt. Hugh R. Burns, Jr.

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Due to COVID virus restrictions, a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the convenience of thefamily. In lieu of owers, please consider a memorial contribution in Jack’s name to Special Olympics
of Collier County, FL (P.O. Box 2646, Bonita Springs, FL 34133) or Saint Joseph’s Center at 2010 Adams
Ave. Scranton, PA 18509.