John N. Burns

John Nicholas (Horvatich) Burns (November 22, 1922 РOctober 5, 2013) of Munster, Indiana passed away at the age of 90 years old. He is the cherished patriarch of the Burns family and will be greatly missed. John was born in Gary, Indiana, son of Andrew and Rose Horvatich and was a first generation American. His father Andrew Horvatich passed away when John was two years old, and he was raised by his mother Rose and step father Patrick Burns. He graduated from Hammond High School, class of 1941. At the age of 19, John enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He bravely served 3 ½ years in the South Pacific as a Radio Operator. John served in the 7th, 13th, and 5th Air Force in Guadalcanal, Munda New Georgia, Fiji, and the Philippines. In March of 1945, John returned home and married his high school sweetheart Anita Bohling of Calumet City. John and Anita raised 9 children. They were residents of Munster since 1957 and were active members of St. Thomas More Parish. All of their children attended St. Thomas More School. John’s wife Anita passed away in 2005. John is survived by 8 of his 9 children, deceased Linda Osterman (James) of Dyer, IN, Timothy Burns (Deb) of Richland Center, WI, Allene Mangone (Dominic) of Medinah, IL, Marian Burns of Fountain Hills, AZ, John Burns (Debbie) of Albuquerque, NM, Maureen Lautz (Steve) of Munster, INKathleen Burns of Munster, IN, Joseph Burns of Hammond, IN, Patricia Rosser (Peter) of Munster, IN; 20 grandchildren: Steven (Heather) Osterman, Amy (Abdoulaye Camara) Osterman, Christy Nash, Emily and Rachael Burns, Gina (Paul) Leuer, Michael (Monica) Mangone, Dr. Joseph (Marjorie) Mangone, Elizabeth Mangone, Joshua Berk, Jessica and John Burns, Dr. Andrew (Kara) Lautz, Laura (Steven) Millies, Gregory Lautz, Patricia (Shay) O’Hearn, Nicole Burns, Sarah, Sam and Luke Rosser and 9 great grandchildren: Isaac and Isabelle Nash, Jacob, Griffin and Andrew Leuer, Mia and Julia Mangone and Dominic Mangone; John was preceded in death by his siblings: Mary (Horvatich) Svetich, Andrew Horvatich, Steve Horvatich, Rudy Horvatich and Antonette LaBaw; John was a very hard working, honest, humble, and intelligent man. Nothing was more important than his family. John believed in the opportunity to make a better life through hard work and doing the right thing. He was a man of few words, but his rare advice was something you could hold on to and never forget. John epitomized the words responsibility, dependability, and honesty. He had a keen power of observation, and a wry sense of humor that could easily catch you off guard. John was a Pipefitter by trade, a proud member of Local 597 since 1948. He was a founding member of the Indiana Pipefitter’s Breakfast Club. When John retired, he volunteered weekly at Munster’s Community Hospital as a runner with the Thursday gang for over 20 years. Visitation will be on Friday, October 11, 2013 from 3:00-8:00 PM at Kish Funeral Home, 10000 Calumet Ave. Munster, IN and on Saturday from 9:30-10:00 AM at the church. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Saturday, October 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM at St. Thomas More Church, Munster, IN, with John’s nephew, Fr. Michael Hoffman officiating; Interment will be at Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens, Schererville, IN. In lieu of flowers, contributions to Hospice of the Calumet Area or the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) in his memory would be appreciated.