PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – The Rev. T. Lee Burns, 76, of Port Charlotte, Fla., formerly of Mexico, died Friday, Oct. 14, at Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda, Fla.

He was born in Rumford on Feb. 28, 1929, a son of the late John R. and Rose Marie (Paradis) Burns. He attended Kimball Grammar School, Mexico Junior High School and graduated from Mexico High School as class valedictorian.

He served in the U.S. Army for two years following high school, and while in the service he attended the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky. He then attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., where he studied philosophy and was class valedictorian.

He entered St. Augustine Seminary in Toronto, where he studied theology. He was ordained as a priest on May 26, 1956, by the Most Rev. Daniel J. Feeney at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

He served as an assistant at St. Joseph’s Parish in Portland, St. Mary’s in Augusta and St. Patrick’s in Lewiston, from June 1956 until February 1972, and was appointed chaplain to the Abnaki Council, K of C in Augusta on Nov. 14, 1956. He was choir director for St. Patrick’s Church for many years, traveling worldwide with the group. He had a love of music and enjoyed playing the organ.

On Feb. 1, 1972, he became pastor of St. Christopher’s on Peaks Island, where he served until August 1975. On Oct. 2, 1975, he began teaching music in the New York Archdiocesan school system. He retired on Aug. 24, 1989, and lived in Florida since his retirement.

He is survived by two brothers, Cecil E. Burns and his wife, Geraldine, of Sarasota, Fla., and Roxbury Pond, and Rae J. Burns and his wife, Lillian, of Dixfield; a longtime friend, Robert Caron of Port Charlotte, Fla.; a sister-in-law, Theresa Burns of Dixfield; and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents; three brothers, Maxwell, George and Harry Burns; and two sisters, Virginia Burns Gaudet and Ruth Burns.

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