Harriet "Bunnie" Burns' Obituary
Surrounded by family, Harriet Alda Burns, 80, (nee Hillebrand) of Cinnaminson passed peacefully after complications from a long illness on April 5, 2015. Affectionately known as “Bunnie” throughout her life, she was born on March 3, 1935 in Clifton, New Jersey to Harry and Victoria Hillebrand. Raised in part by her grandparents Giuseppe and Giulia Datamo, Bunnie attended Mount St. Dominic’s and Benedictine Academy in North Jersey before attending Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, California where she graduated with a degree in Nursing. Upon graduation she worked as a psychiatric nurse at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Westwood L.A. until meeting U.S. Air Force 2nd Lieutenant John E. Burns whom she married on July 22, 1961. Living on several Air Force bases from Maine to Texas to Arkansas, Bunnie and John settled in Cinnaminson, NJ. Bunnie became an active member of the St. Charles Borromeo Parish and School serving as a school nurse, CCD Teacher, and member of the Art and Environment Committee, Women’s Circle, and Choir. She is survived by her husband, John E. Burns, four children: Tracie (and Joseph) Galbraith, Leslie (and Steve) Patient, John J. (and Sarah) Burns, and Christie Burns, and four grandchildren: Devon Galbraith, Mari and Kiri Patient, and Matthew John Burns. A memorial service will be held at Saint Charles Borromeo Parish on Branch Pike in Cinnaminson at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Visitation will be held prior to the service starting at 10 a.m. In keeping with Bunnie’s desire to further education in medical sciences, she donated her body to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in her honor to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Institutional Advancement, 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles, CA 90007 or by going to www.msmu.edu/donate and specifying BSN program in honor of Harriet A. Hillebrand Burns, Class of 1957.
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