Physician.
Born at Winnipeg in 1926, son of Charles William Burns and Helen Gladys MacKay (1896-1995), brother of James William Burns, he graduated from the University of Manitoba Medical School in 1950, then did postgraduate work at Toronto and Bristol, England. Returning to Winnipeg in 1958, he joined the teaching faculty of the University of Manitoba and established a medical practice at the Health Sciences Centre, Grace Hospital, and Deer Lodge Hospital.
In 1981, following a visited to the Maryland Institute of Trauma at Baltimore, he became one of the founders of Canada’s trauma system and served as the first President of the Trauma Association of Canada. Following visits to Japan and China, where he was impressed by their advanced treatment of burns, he set up the Chinese Professorial Sabbatical Program at the University of Manitoba that allowed eminent Chinese physicians to study, teach, and exchange knowledge in Manitoba. He received a Distingished Service Award from the Manitoba Medical Association (1988).
On 28 June 1952, he married Winnifred-Anne Rossini (1928-2010) at Westminster United Church and they had four sons.
He died at Winnipeg on 9 December 2013.
“Engagement notices,”Winnipeg Free Press, 24 May 1952, page 14.
Obituary [Charles William Burns], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 May 1967, page 25.
Obituary [Helen Gladys Burns], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 November 1995, page 53.
Obituary [Winnifred-Anne Burns], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 2010.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 13 December 2013.
We thank Frances Kasper for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 February 2025
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