I was saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Burns, truly one of Nelson’s good guys. Tom and I both taught in China, one of several things we had in common, and we struck up a friendship at the Nelson rec centre, where Tom would complete a two-to-three hour workout upstairs and in the pool on a daily basis.
Tom had to travel to remote locations in B.C. like Fort St. John, Bella Bella and Burns Lake in order to pursue his teaching career. He was forced to travel even further later on in his career, to China, Japan and South Korea, when he was offered no more than a part-time substitute teaching position during his many years living in Nelson.
Tom had the courage to continue to pursue his career as a teacher all over the world, because he loved teaching, and it was truly a shame that Nelson’s young people never had the opportunity to share his classroom with him. I will miss Tom very much.
Patrick O’Neil
Nelson
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