Nancy Vander Naald Burns

Nancy was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up there as one of four siblings, always proud of her Dutch heritage. As a child, she prided herself on playing baseball with the neighborhood boys and marching to the beat of her own drummer. She later attended Western Michigan University and graduated with a degree in early childhood education. She was also a talented organist and pianist, and sought to further her musical training and her independent streak by departing the midwest for New York City in her early twenties. There she studied organ and, later, the psychology of religion, earning a master’s degree from Union Theological Seminary. She spent her summers working at a rural Appalachian health clinic, working at a Winnebago reservation providing social services, and running a coffee house on Nantucket Island.

She was always up for adventure. After her first stint in New York City, she found a new region of the country to explore, moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to earn her second master’s degree in early childhood development at Peabody College. There, she began working as a school psychologist for Nashville Public Schools, and met and married her husband James Burns. Later, while living in Kentucky, she added to her skill set in caring professions by becoming certified in bereavement counseling. Years later, while living again in New York City, she earned her third master’s degree, this time in clinical social work from Fordham University.

Outside of her professional life, she was passionate about nature - going on camping trips with her siblings, hiking with her family in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and marveling at both pelicans and dolphins on Edisto Island and robins and rabbits in her backyard. She was also an expert gardener, brightening up all the spaces in which she lived. Nancy was an ardent supporter of all of the arts - playing, singing, and listening to music, avidly reading poetry and fiction, attending plays and dance performances, and filling her home with art. She was a skilled baker, known for her homemade bread and flourless chocolate cake. Her itch to travel the world persisted throughout her life, beginning to subside only when her mobility declined.

She also spent her personal life devoted to her family and raising two children, Eric and Sarah. Her many friends remember her for her smile, her laugh, her loyalty, and the light that radiated from her. She could often be found laughing at her husband’s jokes or telling her grandchildren how proud of them she was. She was extraordinarily strong in spirit, and rallied through countless injuries and illnesses until complications from a stroke proved too substantial to overcome. She will be deeply missed.

Nancy is survived by her husband of nearly 50 years, James Burns, her son Eric and his wife Amalia Morsi, her daughter Sarah Campbell and her husband, Bryce, her two grandchildren, Sylvie and Logan Campbell, her sister, Ellen Kilpatrick, and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial gift to: The Conservation Fund (www.conservationfund.org), The Carter Center (www.cartercenter.org), or the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (https://afedj.org).