William A. Burns known to his family and close friends as “Allen” or “Burnsy”, 76, a Holland resident, passed away peacefully, Tuesday, March 5th, 2019 at 9:23pm of Stage 4 Glioblastoma (brain cancer) at Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg. He is survived by his daughter Jeannine Burns (Frank) Chapman and favored grandson LeeLand, sister Patricia Pembroke TX, brothers, David Burns IN and John Burns OH. He also has many nieces and nephews.
Allen was born August 3, 1942 in Defiance, Ohio. He was the eldest son of Robert and Mable Ruth(McCord) Burns and grew up in Bryan, Ohio. He served two years of active duty in theU.S. Army after being in the BGSU ROTC program for four years.
He was First Lieutenant and was stationed on the DMZ in South Korea. In 1965 he taught in Edon, Oh. followed by 35 years as Math Department Chairman and honors math teacher at Sylvania Northview.
He also coached JV Basketball. Upon “retirement” from Sylvania, he taught at Scott High School for 7 years. Followed by 2 years of substituting in East/West Holmes County Schools, Wise and Hiland.
He was a member of several teaching organizations and was especially proud to be a rare member of the Oughtred Society. He was a member of the American Legion Post 552, VFW Post 3338, and the Korean Veteran’s Association. He graduated from BGSU with a B.S in Education, majoring in both Mathematics and History.
During his four years he was a member of the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. He also graduated from the University of Toledo with a Master in Guidance and Counseling and a Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Allen loved to keep busy and wrote daily To Do Lists.
In his spare time, he enjoyed anything farm related, going to county fairs and flea markets, tutoring students in math after school, touring Holmes County and visiting his many Amish friends, and most importantly doing activities with his grandson LeeLand. He collected antique math books and slide rules. He attended Cedar Creek’s South Toledo campus.
He is also known for reciting “Casey at the Bat” and his vest trick. His favorite sayings were “Math is fun” and “The problem is not the problem, problem”. American Legion Post 553 will be conducting part of the funeral service.
The family will receive guests at Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania from 3:00-8:00pm on Friday, March 8, 2019, where the funeral service will be held Saturday, March 9, 2019 at 11:00 A.M., with Pastor Mark Snyder of Cedar Creek South, officiating. Burial at Shiffler Cemetery in Pulaski, Ohio with full military honors will follow.
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