Dr. Chester R.
Burns died December 27, 2006, while
visiting family in New York.
A memorial
service will be held at the Moody
Memorial First United Methodist
Church 2803 53rd in Galveston on
Thursday, January 4, 2007, at 4 p.m.
Dr. Burns was
born on December 5, 1937 in
Nashville, Tennessee. After
completing undergraduate studies
with a major in philosophy at
Vanderbilt University, he received a
B.A. degree, cum laude, in 1959.
Between 1959 and 1963, he attended
Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine, obtaining his M.D. in
1963.
After a one
year internship, he was a Fellow at
the Johns Hopkins University
Institute of Medicine from 1964 to
1969. In June 1969, Dr. Burns became
the first American born physician to
receive a Ph.D. in the history of
medicine from Hopkins.
Dr. Burns
became a member of the medical
school faculty at the University of
Texas Medical Branch in 1969 where
he taught for 37 years before
retiring in March of 2006.
He was the
founder of the Institute for the
Medical Humanities at UTMB, was the
James Wade Rockwell Professor of the
History of Medicine, Professor in
the Department of Preventative
Medicine and Community Health, and a
member of the University of Texas
Graduate School of the Biomedical
Sciences. He published extensively
during his career and was very
active in numerous medical
societies.
Dr. Burns is
survived by his wife of 44 years,
Ann Christine Griffey Burns, and his
two children, Michael Derek and
Margaret Christine Krause.
Derek is
married to Susan and lives in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Christine is
married to Todd and has three
daughters, Amy, Megan, and Charlotte
who live in Pelham, New York. Dr.
Burns was active in many community
organizations. He was president of
the Rotary Club of Galveston in
1980-81 and served as Governor of
Rotary District 5910 during
1993-1994. He was the archivist and
wrote a history of the Galveston
Rotary club and of the 5910
district.
Donations may
be made in honor of Dr. Chester R.
Burns to: The Chester Burns Alumni
Scholarship Fund c/o Ann Anderson.
The Graduate
School of Biomedical Sciences
301 University
Blvd
Galveston,
Texas 77555-1041
