Dr. Charles Leon Burns, Jr. died November 22, 2020 in Winchester, Virginia. He was born February 26, 1929 in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Charles Leon Burns and Violette Rainey Burns. Bob, as he was known by his friends and family, graduated from Waynesboro High School in 1946 and Hampden Sydney College in 1950 where he was president of his senior class and of his fraternity, Theta Chi. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and served four years until 1954 during which time he met and married Virginia Edwards of Birmingham, Alabama. Bob continued his education and graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1959, interned at Roanoke Memorial Hospital and completed his residency at the Medical College of Virginia.
Dr. Burns and his wife and children moved to Winchester in 1963 where he began his twenty-five-year practice of ophthalmology. He and his family became actively involved in their new community. Dr. Burns was on the Board of Lord Fairfax Community College and served a term as president of the Winchester Medical Center medical staff. As an only child and a teenager when his father, a chemical engineer for Dupont, died in a tragic explosion, Bob had missed being part of a larger family. He was always grateful for his four children and the experiences the family shared at home in Winchester and on their many trips together in the U.S. and abroad, and later for the gift of eight grandchildren.
Dr. Burns enjoyed his medical practice, his associates and his patients. Following his retirement in 1988 he was able to continue his long interest and pleasure in drawing and painting and took weekly classes for many years at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia and other locations. His paintings, mostly in oils, were of family, friends and places and scenes he had visited and photographed. He hoped they might provide some tangible expression of his life and experiences for his children and grandchildren. Bob’s intellectual curiosity prompted him to read and study a variety of subjects and to analyze and retain a wealth of information. Whether confronted by a patient’s vision problems or an automobile’s idiosyncrasies, he was a skilled diagnostician and would find a solution. Other interests included music, sailing, sports, travel, his dogs, and a life-long concern for the care and protection of all animals.
Several years after the death of Virginia Burns, Bob married Massie Dorsey Damron December 10, 2005 and they shared many happy years together.
Survivors include his wife Massie Burns, his three sons, Charles Lloyd Burns of Frankfurt, Germany; Steven Rainey Burns and his wife Betsy of Winchester, Virginia; John Stuart Burns and his wife Tammy of Fairfax, Virginia; and his daughter Susan Burns Malcolm and her husband David of Herndon, Virginia. He is also survived by eight grandchildren, David, Marshall, Megan, Andrew, Alex, Ryan, Alli, and Julian. Additional survivors are his step-children Pembroke Dorsey Hutchinson and her husband Greg, and Tupper Hawthorne Dorsey and his wife Wendy.
Dr. Burns will be buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery with a private family service.
The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation to the staff and dedicated nurses and assistants at Westminster-Canterbury who gave Dr. Burns such excellent care and unlimited kindness during the last months of his life.
For those wishing to make a memorial gift, please consider:
SPCA 111 Featherbed Lane, Winchester, VA 22601
Westminster-Canterbury Cultural Art: Art Program 300 Westminster-Canterbury Drive, Winchester, VA 22603.