Robert Burns

Madison/New Glarus - Dr. Robert Oliver Burns, age 87, passed away peacefully of heart failure on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 at Meriter Hospital where he was admitted the previous day. He was born on October 31, 1926 in Lebanon, Virginia to Clarence Clifton Burns and Leonora Maude Burns (nee Shuler). He was the seventh of seven children. Robert graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1948 after serving in WWII as a medical technician in the 349th Infantry in northern Italy. He received his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia in 1952. He then completed his internship at University Hospitals in Madison, WI where he met his wife Mary Ellen Anderson. The two were united in marriage on June 30, 1953 in Glade Springs, Virginia. Robert completed a two-year research fellowship at Harvard Medical College Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in cardio-renal under Dr. John Putnam Merrill, who performed the first organ transplant--a kidney. Robert then returned to Madison where he set up the first dialysis unit in Wisconsin at the Veterans Administration Hospital. Robert also served as an associate professor of internal medicine in the University of Wisconsin Medical School for ten years, his humor making him one of the most popular professors. One of his heroes at UW Medical School was Dean William Shainline Middleton. He was a partner at Associated Physicians on Regent Street from 1970 until he retired at the age of 82 in 2009.

Robert and Mary lived in Richmond, VA; Valley Forge, VA; Charleston, WV; Huntington, WV; and, Boston, MA, before returning to Madison to settle and raise a family. Robert is preceded in death by his wife Mary, his parents and his six siblings. He is survived by his four children, John Anderson Burns, McFarland; Ellen Shuler Burns (Hisanori) Yaegashi, Tokyo, Japan; Robert Roy Burns, Madison; and, Carrie Leonora (Brock) Burns Dockter, New Glarus. He is also survived by his six grandchildren, Rainge and Cole Dockter, Kenta and Ayana Yaegashi, and Remington and Mary Burns.

Robert, (Bob, Bobbie), was a devoted husband and father. He and Mary had deep faith and were ardent, longtime members of the University United Methodist Church serving in various positions. Bob was also an avid runner, jogging six miles each morning before work and ran the Syttende Mai 20-mile run on more than one occasion and the Sugar River Trail Marathon once. Bob rode his bike to work each day well into his sixties. He was active in scouting and led his eldest son through Eagle Scouts, was Cub Master of Pack 402, Scout Master of Troop 18 and soccer coach of the Cherokee Chiefs. He was assistant soccer coach for numerous teams of his children. Bob and Mary loved visiting with family and enjoyed annual camping trips to Peninsula State Park in Door County. Bob grew up with poetry in his ears and continued that tradition by waking his children each morning in verse. He also kept a journal, writing close to 5000 pages and wrote a weekly family newsletter similar to his father's called the Breezy Hill Bulletin II, named after his home in Virginia. He also took all his children spelunking in his native Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He loved learning foreign languages as well, especially German, and studied Koine Greek in order to read the original Bible as well as Korean. He was last reading Martin Luther's Bible in German when he passed.

A visitation will be held from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm on Saturday, January 4, 2014 at CRESS FUNERAL HOME, 3610 Speedway Rd., Madison, WI. A Memorial Celebration of Robert's life will follow at 1:00 pm at the same location. The family would like to thank the Home Health Care Agents at Meriter and Monroe Clinics for their loving and compassionate care.