Lenward R. Burroughs

Burroughs, Lenward R.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Len Burroughs, beloved husband, brother, uncle, avid bicyclist, community volunteer and friend to many, died October 3, 2025. He actively enjoyed all planned activities, including trips to his wife's family in Rockford, Ill., in June and his family's lake house near Clanton, Ala., over the 4th of July this year. Also, through this July, he was riding 100 miles a week on his bicycle with NFBC friends. Fatigue and pain sidelined him in early August, and he was diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV pancreatic cancer on Sept 2, 2025. Len was born in Birmingham, Ala., on June 19,1949. He attended Ramsey High School and subsequently the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. During a summer job in Lake Geneva, Wis., he met the love of his life, Vicki Aline Johnson. They were married for 54 years. He worked 25 years as an Area Manager for Ecolab Inc, retiring in 2011. He was a decades-long Board Member & Volunteer for many community organizations, including MHPA (Murray Hill Preservation Assn), CPAC (Citizens Planning Advisory Committee), BPAC (Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee), NFBC (North Florida Bicycle Club) and the Speech & Hearing Center volunteer organization, until it dissolved.
Len is preceded in death by his parents, JoAnn Jordan Burroughs Johnston and Len R Burroughs Jr. M.D.; and by his sister, Jennie Jordan Burroughs. He was looking forward to a two week cruise around the Hawaiian Islands with Vicki, to celebrate what would have been their 55th wedding anniversary, in June 2026. He and Vicki loved to travel, and enjoyed adventures with family and friends near and far throughout their years together.
Len is also survived by his brother, John (Debra) Burroughs, of Tuscaloosa, Ala.; nephew, Jim (Liza) Burroughs of Houston, Texas; nephew, Mark (Haley) Burroughs of Auburn, Ala.; sister-in-law, Jessica (Art) Strandgard of Rockford, Ill.; brother-in-law, Mark (Terri) Hoffman, of Bloomfield, Iowa; nieces, Kirsten Erdmier of Durand, Ill.; Danica (George) Holochwast, of Baltimore, Md.; Erin Strandgard of Rockford, Ill.; nephews, Derek Strandgard, of Seattle, Wash.; Elias (Rachel) Hoffman, of Rockford, Ill.; Evan Strandgard, of Rockford, Ill.; two great-nieces, Kya (Karley) Morton and Keona Eckert, of Freeport, Ill.; and two great-nephews, Kalel Eckert, of Jackson Township, N.J.; and two-month-old Archer Hoffman (Eli & Rachel), of Rockford, Ill.
Celebrations of Life will be held for Len at several friends' homes, but there will be no formal memorial service. His ashes will be buried in a memorial garden, that currently includes his mother, father and sister, at their family lake house in Ala. NFBC will host a Len Burroughs Memorial Beaches Bike Ride, to begin at 9 a.m., on November 8, the entire 30 mile Atlantic Coastal Ride route that Len rode every Friday for years.
In Len's memory, please make donations to the National Park Service and/or to PBS/NPR, on an ongoing basis, to help preserve the beauty and history of our nation.