Despite the cold, dark and damp of the season, I wish to reflect on the life and times of a very special, bright and dynamic person. William Burns, Marine Engineer, (1932 -1993).
Today, 3rd November 2022, would have been our father Willie Burns' 90th birthday. I find it virtually impossible to imagine him that age, as he was only sixty and a half, younger than I am now, when he was suddenly taken away. So my image and memory of him are of an active, indeed lively fellow. His life was a busy endeavour of work and preparing for work. He thrived on the challenges of fixing and repairing, all things engineering. He was a perfectionist in all that he attempted and he loved to encourage excellence in the pursuits of others. He was my greatest critic, he was a wonderful draftsman and I really respected all that he said about my drawing. We all miss him so very much.
He was born in Queensland, Australia, in a town called Howard, his family emigrated, "down under" in 1927.
He was two when he first arrived in the UK.
He spent his teenage years in Joppa, near Portobello, Edinburgh, where he and his friends became professional jazz musicians. He was a drummer, initially learning his skills in a local pipe band. Then progressing to a traditional jazz band called Sandy Brown's. He also became an engineering apprentice at the Henry Robb Ship Yard in Leith. His father advising him to pursue engineering as a more reliable career. He finished off his apprenticeship as an engineer in the Stornoway firm of Lewis Electrical and Diesel. Soon after completion, he signed up with the shipping company of Alfred Holt's, fondly known as "The Blue Flu Line", named after the famous blue funnels.
He quickly advanced through his Marine Engineering qualifications at sea, becoming one of the youngest to gain a Chief Engineers Qualification at the age of 24 years. Though, he was required to wait for a whole year as the company were not able to insure him to take that command before that time.
He met our mother Barbara Ena MacLeod, in Stornoway, on Christmas Eve 1955, they got engaged on 11th November 1956, and were married in Stornoway, on 12th March 1958.
Like so many young couples of that time, Willie and Barbara, moved around, in various places before returning to settle in Lewis, just prior to the birth of the first, of their four sons, early in 1960. Willie began working in the family business Stephen Burns Limited, a Harris Tweed Mill, in Stornoway.
In 1974, he started his own business, an industrial and marine engineering company, in humble beginnings at the rear of the family home. Over the years he built up the business and acquired a fine reputation for diligence and excellence. He was particularly proud of the workforce that he trained, from junior apprentices to skilled engineers. In return he had a very dedicated and loyal team. The workshop moved twice.
Sadly on the morning of 5th May 1993, he suffered a massive heart attack, at his workshop at 38 Inaclete Road, Stornoway, He died shortly afterwards in the Western Isles Hospital.
In fond remembrance and reflection.
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