Civic Leader Joe Burns Dies at 90
Joe Burns, back row center, with the Hermiston Development Corporation
If E.P. Dodd was Hermiston’s town father for its first 50 years, Joe Burns will be remembered as Hermiston’s town father for the second 50 years. Following is his obituary from 2015.
Joseph Edward “Joe” Burns, 90, died February 5, 2015 at his home in Hermiston. He was born on February 1, 1925 in Portland, Oregon, the son of John William Burns and Mae (Hanna) Burns. When he was two months old his family moved to Condon, Oregon where he attended grade school and high school.
Upon graduation, Joe joined the Army Air Corps and flew missions over Germany as a B-24 bomber pilot with the 8th Army Air Force 389th Bomb Group, stationed in England. After the war, Joe and his brother Charles established a partnership in 1946. They owned and operated Burns Mortuary in Condon and then acquired Prann Mortuary in Hermiston in 1946, creating Burns Mortuary in Hermiston.
They sold the Condon Mortuary in 1949 after purchasing the Bomboy’s Mortuary in Pendleton, creating Burns Mortuary in Pendleton. Joe and Charles operated as partners, Joe in Hermiston and Charles in Pendleton for many years. In 1993, Joe retired and sold Burns Mortuary of Hermiston to his sons, Dan and Kevin.
While in Condon, Joe discovered that a pretty brown-eyed school teacher had moved from South Dakota to teach at the local school. His route to work each day suddenly changed to pass through the school yard and the rest is history. On June 11, 1949 Joe married that young beauty named Arlene Brockel. They moved to Hermiston, Oregon where they raised their five children.
Joe served in a special session of the Oregon State Legislature in 1971, representing Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Wheeler and Grant counties. He was treasurer of the Oregon State Republican Party for three years and was a member of the Oregon State Board of Health from 1969-1971. He was instrumental in the formation of the nonprofit Hermiston Development Corporation and served as its President for its first 29 years. During his tenure nearly six thousand jobs were created in the Hermiston area.
Joe was a leader in the community, serving as Chairman of the following organizations: Hermiston Cemetery District, Hermiston Airport Commission, Hermiston Library Board, Good Samaritan Nursing Home Advisory Board, Hermiston Coordinating Council, Western Heritage Savings & Loan, Hermiston City Budget Committee, Hermiston Chamber of Commerce (twice), from whom he received the Distinguished Service Award and was named Man of the Year in 1988. Joe also served on the Hermiston City Council and Good Shepherd Hospital Board of Directors for several years.
In 1962 he was honored as Education Man of the Year by the Education Association of Hermiston and in 1986 he received the Volunteer of the Year Award for the State of Oregon, presented by Governor Vic Atiyeh. In 1995 he became the first non-farmer to be chosen for the Oregon State University Agricultural Hall of Fame for his work on improving economic conditions for agriculture in the Hermiston area.
At various times Joe was a member of many service organizations, including Rotary International, VFW, Eagles, Elks, and American Legion. Joe was an active member of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church; he was past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. He also served as a member of the Eastern Oregon legislative Advisory Committee to the Baker Diocese and the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Charles and Robert, his sister Anne Bass, grandson Shea and twin granddaughters Amy and April.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years: Arlene Burns, Hermiston; his daughters Lynn Duus (Paul) of Hermiston, and Bev Eagy (Alan) of The Dalles; sons Dan (Cindi), Paul (Billie Jo), and Kevin (Darla), all of Hermiston, sisters: Ethel Park of Pendleton and Garnett Huddleston of Salem, 12 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great granddaughter.
Mass of Christian burial was held February 12, 2015 at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church, Hermiston.
Burial with military honors followed at the Hermiston Cemetery.
The Hermiston Herald noted the impact Burns had on Hermiston in its follow-up article:
Burns had been a fixture in the community since arriving in 1946, bringing with him a distinguished background that included service as a B-24 bomber pilot during World War II. Before settling in Hermiston, he and his brother Charles had run Burns Mortuary in Condon, Oregon. He relocated to the area to take over Prann Mortuary in Hermiston, which the brothers subsequently renamed Burns Mortuary.
In the decades that followed, Burns threw himself into civic life. He served on numerous boards, held a seat on the Hermiston City Council, and was a founding member of the Hermiston Development Corporation, an organization he led as president for 29 years. Under his watch, the region gained nearly 6,000 jobs.
His impact did not go unnoticed. State officials tapped him to represent Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Wheeler and Grant counties at a special session of the Oregon State Legislature in 1971. He also caught the attention of the White House, becoming acquainted with presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
His son, Paul Burns, described his father as the person U.S. presidents turned to when they needed someone to build support among voters in the region. Paul Burns said his father was quite a remarkable individual — someone truly one of a kind.
Paul Burns recalled that his father received a personal invitation to Reagan’s inauguration and on a separate occasion shook hands with the president at a luncheon in Washington, D.C. He also described how his father was part of a group that met either Nixon or Ford at the airport in Pendleton, escorting the president by limousine to an event at Happy Canyon. According to Paul Burns, as his father was getting into the vehicle, the president called him by name and asked him to sit nearby, giving the two a chance to discuss issues facing the region. His father, Paul said, was absolutely thrilled by the experience.
Former City Manager Tom Harper, now 92, remembered arriving in Hermiston in the early 1960s and immediately recognizing Burns as the person everyone turned to for leadership. Harper collaborated with Burns on numerous projects tied to the city’s development. He noted that when he first arrived, almost none of the streets were paved and Hermiston’s population hovered around 4,000. Burns, he said, helped shape the town into a place where people genuinely wanted to live.
Others who worked alongside Burns echoed that sentiment. Hermiston attorney and former City Councilman George Anderson, also a member of the Hermiston Development Corporation, said he first got to know Burns through Rotary before connecting with him through various other committees and organizations. Anderson said Hermiston would be a fundamentally different place without Burns’ influence, noting that he seemed to have a hand in nearly everything.
Among the organization’s accomplishments during Burns’ tenure, Anderson highlighted the successful recruitment of the Marlette Mobile Home Manufacturing Company, which gave the local economy a significant boost. Burns and his colleagues — including Harper and others — also played a central role in bringing Walmart to Hermiston, which became the retail giant’s first location in the Pacific Northwest. That store was eventually followed by a distribution center that now employs more than 800 people in the area.
Anderson also noted that as early as the 1980s, Burns and his group were already pushing to relocate the fairgrounds to a 75-acre parcel near the Hermiston Airport — a vision that has since become reality with the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center now under construction. Anderson marveled that Burns had conceived of that idea more than 30 years before it came to fruition.
Anderson said Burns’ enthusiasm for building something great was infectious and helped inspire others, including himself, to get more involved in the community. He called Burns the one truly great man he had known in his lifetime.
Burns was recognized publicly on several occasions. In 1962, the Education Association of Hermiston named him Education Man of the Year. He was honored as Oregon’s Volunteer of the Year in 1986, and two years later was named Hermiston Man of the Year.
Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann said Burns’ legacy continues to shape the community and his own approach to civic leadership. Drotzmann described Burns as one of the founding fathers of Hermiston, saying that without his leadership, it is hard to know where the city would be today. He also remembered Burns as a warm and engaging presence who greeted everyone with a smile and a handshake.
Drotzmann said replacing someone like Burns would be no easy task, and credited him as a key reason Hermiston has remained as successful as it has. He added that city staff are working on a proclamation in Burns’ honor, following a suggestion from Councilman Manuel Gutierrez. At a recent council meeting, Gutierrez also proposed asking the governor’s office to allow the flag to fly at half-staff in Burns’ memory — a suggestion the full council voiced support for.
