David Joseph Burns
Born January 23, 1947 in Westerly, Rhode IslandDeparted June 28, 2023 in Melbourne, Florida
David Joseph Burns, 76, of Indialantic, passed away on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
He was born in White Rock, Westerly, Rhode Island as the youngest son to the late John Joseph and Mary Blanche Burns. David was also predeceased by eight siblings. David was a devoted husband, father, grandfather (pépé), brother and uncle. He will be missed dearly by his wife, Silva of 54 years, his three daughters, Laurie, husband Brian Kocak and son Brian, II, middle daughter Tammy, husband Dan Bernard and son Andrew and youngest daughter Denise, husband Brian LeGros, daughter Emily, son David, and his brother Michael Burns and wife Pat and his numerous nieces and nephews.
In 1967, David completed his education in electronics from Vocational Technical School (VTS) of Rhode Island in Providence. His first job was at Yardney Electric working in quality and testing and was called upon to provide double and triple shifts working upwards of 80 to 100 hours per week to tackle the product testing backlog. The following year, he began working at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut working in experimental stress on the proto-type of the Ohio-class ballistic-missile nuclear submarines. With his electrical experience, he was called upon to repair and maintain all of the overhead and scaffolding crane systems utilized in the modular construction of the submarines.
In 1979, David relocated his young family to Indialantic, Florida and began working at Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida in Quality Control. While working full-time, he continued his education at the local college and received his Electrical Engineering degree in 1982. David worked on various projects and contracts during his 30 years of service at Harris and retired on May 14th, 2009. He lived by the values of hard work, and he never retired from his secondary career in real estate investing and property management. David had an engineering mind and the hands of a craftsman allowing him to solve the most challenging problems with creative and elegant solutions.
David wanted to experience the fullness of life and enjoyed traveling the globe visiting all continents except for Antarctica, joking that he had his fill of cold weather growing up in Rhode Island which was close enough for him. He loved to vacation and cruise with his family with two remaining on his dance card scheduled for later this year.
David expressed that his greatest success was his three daughters. He showed reverence to God and imparted his Christian values upon them, faithfully attended weekly mass with his family. He stressed the importance of education and hard work ensuring that his daughters all pursued higher education. He was lighthearted, optimistic and humorous, whilst always providing guidance, advice and wisdom. He believed that there were no failures in life, only opportunities to learn from them, that there was no challenge to difficult that could not be solved.
David was most happy when surrounded by his family. He passed away peacefully on his 54th wedding anniversary, surrounded by his wife and daughters praying by his side. He will be dearly missed by all but will be watching over us as an angel in heaven.
Visiting hours will be held at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 3050 N Hwy A1A, Indialantic, Florida on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 10:30 am; immediately followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 am. He will be laid to rest at Florida Memorial Gardens in Rockledge, Florida.