Ward Burns

Ward Burns, former Vice-Chairman of J.P. Stevens, one of the largest textile companies in the US, died in Gilbert, Arizona on Sunday October 5th surrounded by family. He was 80.

Mr. Burns was born in New Bedford, MA and he never lost the New England Puritan values of hard work, integrity, or aspiring to achieve any goals. He excelled at St. Paul's Preparatory School in Garden City, NY and was accepted to his first choice, Amherst College, in 1946. As he liked to tell the story, he and his classmate John Esquirol, who would become a lifelong friend, got impatient waiting for an acceptance letter from Amherst. So they borrowed a car and drove up from New York. They met with the director of admissions who looked over their documents and offered them both a spot there and then.

After graduating in 1950, Mr. Burns attended Harvard Business School and received his MBA in 1952. Upon graduation, Ward Burns joined the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. He was charged with approving financial conditions of all Air Force contractors for the Air Procurement Command at Wright-Patterson A.F.B. in Dayton, Ohio. He often said that he had more power in this position than any other job since. Following the Air Force he worked as an auditor for Price Waterhouse then moved to Brussels to be an Associate for Laurence and David Rockefeller where he negotiated venture capital arrangements in various European countries and Israel. There he met and married Cynthia Butterworth, daughter of Career Ambassador William Walton Butterworth.

He joined J.P. Stevens, Inc. in 1965 as assistant controller and worked his way up to Vice Chairman by 1988. Throughout his career he worked to protect the textile industry in the US and showed concern for the textile worker. He was a great supporter of the "Made in America" campaign, striving to keep American workers employed and American factories open, and American cotton fields productive. J.P. Stevens at its peak made one in four sheets and towels in the US.

At Amherst in 1948, Mr. Burns was Treasurer of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, one of the first in the country to pledge an African American. It ultimately meant the withdrawal of their charter from the Phi Kappa Psi national organization and a great deal of controversy on campus, “despite the fact that criteria for membership in the national fraternity was based on 'character and ability' with no mention of race," Mr. Burns wrote later of the incident

Mr. Burns was a lifelong supporter of education and worked tirelessly for the Amherst College Library, the International School of Brussels and Daniel Webster College.

Ward Burns traveled extensively internationally and domestically for both business and pleasure. He was an avid skier, hunter, sailor and fisherman.

Mr. Burns is survived by his wife, Cynthia and his three children, Helen Abby Sugden of Gilbert AZ, David Burns of Greenwich, CT and Walton Burns who lives in Kazakhstan. He also leaves two grandchildren, Brian and Eric Sugden.

A memorial service will be held in Greenwich, CT at St. Barnabus Church on Saturday October 18th at 12:00.