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Weir Mac Cuish Family Funeral Home 144 Salem Street, Malden, MA 02148 A member of the Malden Community since 1896 |
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Mary “Ellen” Burns
John and Ellen were married in 1951, and first lived in Cambridge before settling down in Saugus to raise their family. Ellen became a very active member of the Saugus community. She served for 30 years as an elected Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member. She was a founding member and former President of the Saugus Action Volunteer for the Environment (SAVE). Ellen served on the Board of Library Trustees of 10 years, 2 of which she served as Chairwoman, the Zoning Board of Appeals for 8 years, and the Planning board for 10 years, 3 of which she was the Chairwoman. She was also active with special boards, including the Charter Commision, and the Growth Study Commission. In addition, she was a member of No-Blast, which negotiated the reduction of blasting by 80% at an expansion of a shopping center, and was Vice-President and legislative Chair of the Massachusetts Federation of Planning and Appeal Boards from 1984-1986. For many years, Ellen worked at Harvard University as a Research Assistant. She later worked as a Newspaper Reporter and had a column titled “Talk of the Town” which was very popular. In 2004, Ellen was voted “Person of the Year” at Saugus Founders Day. Ellen is survived by her son David J. Burns of Saugus, and her sister in Law, Katie Leinbach of TX. She was proceeded in death by her husband, John J. Burns, her daughter, Kathleen Burns, and her brother, David Leinbach. Visitation for Ellen will be held at the Weir-MacCuish Golden Rule Funeral Home, 144 Salem Street, Malden, on Friday, Jan 7th, from 7 – 9 PM. A memorial service will be held on Monday, Jan 10th, in the Maplewood Baptist Church, 729 Salem Street, Malden, at 10AM.. Donations in Ellens memory may be made to: the Saugus Library Foundation, c/o Wallace McKenzie, 4 Debston Lane, Lynnfield, MA 01940 |
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ContentsCopyright©1999-2010 |
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Mary
“Ellen” Burns (Leinbach), a longtime resident of Saugus who was
an active member of the community, passed away on Thursday Dec
30th. Ellen was born in Massillon, OH, the daughter
of Heber and Elizabeth Leinbach. She graduated from Paseo High
School in Kansas City with the Class of 1936. She then attended
the University of Missouri where she received a degree in
English. In 1943, Ellen enlisted in the US Navy Reserves WAVES
to help our countries fight in WWII. She was sent to Smith
College in North Hampton, MA, for training in communications.
She was assigned to the Northern Group of the Eastern Sea
Frontier, stationed on Causeway Street, in Boston, where she
encoded and decoded wartime messages. It was there in 1946 that
she met Lt. John J. Burns of Saugus, who had served as a
communications officer on a US Ship in the Pacific. 