James A. Burns

James A. Burns, 86 of Lebanon, passed away Sunday, June 13, 2021, with his family by his side. Born in Skowhegan, ME on March 24, 1935, to the late John and Annie (Spaulding) Burns.

Jim enlisted in the Army in 1952 and was sent over to fight for his country in the Korean War. After his time in the service, he was a true entrepreneur and dabbled in a little of everything; from owning a fleet of tractor trailers and hauling whatever needed to be, to owning an excavation company and specializing in septic system installs. During his early retirement years, he enjoyed restoring antique cars, tractors and building Indian Motorcycles from the ground up. There was not a day, you would not find him in his garage tinkering with some project; a cigar in one hand and a JB in the other. In the last decade and a half, he turned his love back to appaloosa horses that he had previously owned in Coventry CT and reintroduced his love for horses to his granddaughter. At one point, you would see an appaloosa miniature horse and appaloosa POA pony in the backyard along with the mini donkey that he loved dearly. He changed his main focus to woodworking; traveled to upstate NY with a good friend and brought home a sawmill. He was determined to make cedar equestrian jumps and tack trunks for his granddaughter from the trees on his property. He didn’t stop there; he milled all the wood for his two decks and rebuilt them with his own two hands. He introduced horseback riding to his granddaughter and was her biggest cheerleader (literally) at every horse show. He was a man of strong convictions and had an iron will.  There was no convincing him to do anything that he did not want to do and whatever he set out to do, he did well.

Jim leaves behind his wonderful partner of 32 years, Dena Parker; his children, Linda Person of Brooklyn, CT, James Burns of Marlborough, CT, and John Burns of Chaplin, CT; numerous grandchildren and 3 greatgrandchildren; his sister Saddie (97) of FL and many extended family members. Besides his parents, Jim is also predeceased by 11 of his siblings.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 26, 2021, from 3-6 pm, at the Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home, 167 Old Hartford Rd., Colchester. In lieu of flowers, please make donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (stjude.org). For online condolences, please visit https://www.auroramccarthyfuneralhome.com/

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