Reginald (Tony) Burns

MESA – Reginald (Tony) Burns, 78, of Mesa AZ passed away peacefully on the evening of Tuesday September 13th. Tony was born to the late Reginald and Betty Duncan Burns in Victoria Texas on April 20, 1944. In 1957 his family moved to Arizona where he graduated from Mesa High School in 1962.

During his college years at ASU, he was a member of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity where he developed lifelong friendships that spanned almost 60 years till his death. After starting his family, he spent many years as a member of the Maricopa County Sheriff ’s Posse where he collected an array of comical stories of desert parties gone awry and the many ways to cut people out of the cacti with which they’d impaled themselves. He was fond of correcting his children’s grammar and “rough it” camping trips where his survival skills were fiercely tested next to an ice filled cooler, tent and blow-up mattress. After a long working career Tony retired from Boeing in 2013 as a software engineer. He spent many of his retired years doing what he loved, riding horses and sport fishing in Mexico.

He is survived by his children; Jared Burns (Michelle), Jason Burns, William Gilbert (Amanda), Jill Rew (John) and Michael Gilbert as well as his grandchildren (Trey, Lacey, Will, Braden, Abbie, Ava, Liam and Billie Sue), his cousins and many many great friends. He will be terribly missed and his tales will be told for years to come but much quicker and without all the annoying pausing for no apparent reason.

There will be a private viewing Tuesday September 20th at 2pm. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting donations be made to Hospice of the Valley.