On Monday, April 22, Highway Superintendent Robert Burns passed away at the age of 42 after a valiant fight with cancer.
In his all too brief tenure with our town, Rob worked tirelessly to improve the operation of the Highway Department upgrading systems and equipment. He was determined to restore every road in Taghkanic and continued to pursue improvement plans up until the last few days of his life. We will always be grateful for his hard work and dedication to our community.
In addition to looking after the roads in Taghkanic, Rob was a dedicated member of the Hillsdale Fire Department, with whom he served for over 25 years, rising to rank of 2nd Assistant Chief. Over the years Rob had a positive impact on the lives of many kids through his involvement in 4H, baseball, football and wrestling. Rob was also the proud father of Robert “Bo” Burns Jr. and committed partner of Maggie McBroom. He leaves behind a brother and a sister, Ethan and Shawna. We offer our condolences to all of them, as well as to his brothers and sisters in the Hillsdale Fire Department and the many people who called Rob their friend, like we did.
Rob will be sorely missed by all of us who had the honor and pleasure of working with him.
The wake is Monday, April 29 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home in Great Barrington, MA. Graveside service will be held at 10am Tuesday, April 30 at Hillside cemetery, 223 Egremont Plain Rd. Reception to follow at Hillsdale Firehouse.
Rob worked diligently with us and our neighbors on improving our road, and it was clear he cared very much about what he did for the community. His family must be very proud of his dedication to all that he took on.
When Perry and I were out campaigning, knocking on doors in October of last year, the topic or road repair came up repeatedly. What we heard from many people was how much things had improved since you became Highway Supervisor. Your hard work and dedication to a job well done earned the respect of a lot of people in Taghkanic, myself included.