Reginald Burns

1954 - 2016

Reginald Â'Regi' Wilbur Burns

Passed away at home in Cloverdale, CA on January 7, 2016, at the age of 61, after a long battle with stomach cancer.
Regi was predeceased by his father, Wilbur Burns, his mother, Mary Ruth Greene and his sister Marie Devon Greene Gill. Regi is survived by his partner of 23 years, husband of 8 years, Michael A. Hoban; his brother Frederick Greene; nieces and nephews, Jackie Robinson Lowe, Cedric Gill, Andrea Gill, Mary L. Green, Annamae Mullen, and Madalaine Mullen; cousins Faye Hauser-Price and Peaches Golding; and by a wide and loving circle of friends and family in California, North Carolina and at UNC.
Regi was born in Winston Salem, North Carolina, on July 15, 1954. he showed great aptitude as early as the third grade, and was selected for a special academic unit for bright children. In 1968 he received a Doris Duke scholarship for high school, and was the first African American student at The Episcopal High School in Virginia at Alexandria. He attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a prestigious Morehead Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa member, graduating in 1976. Regi was an avid Tarheels' basketball fan, one could count on finding him in front of a TV, brackets in hand, for all of March Madness.
Regi moved to The San Francisco Bay Area in 1976, and worked primarily in the airlines industry with United Airlines and Qantas Airlines. He loved to travel, and traveled extensively in Europe and South America. His love of food and cooking is legendary. He was happiest when cooking a gourmet meal for close friends. He worked as a caterer in New Orleans in the mid 1980's, learning Creole and Cajun cooking. He returned to California, living in Los Angeles and then migrating back to San Francisco and his love of food. He became a wonderful Thai chef, studying under Kasma Loha-unchit, where he learned how to make the perfect tom kha gai.
Regi was a long-term HIV survivor, and a role model to many during the years of the AIDS epidemic. He cheerfully struggled against HIV for nearly 30 years, and lost his first partner, Richard Killingsworth, to the epidemic. Regi was extremely active in Democratic politics. He worked with the 1992 Clinton campaign setting up the Northern California Speakers database. And in 1996 he was selected as a delegate to the Democratic Convention, pledged to Bill Clinton. In 2009 Regi and Mike retired to Cloverdale, CA in Northern Sonoma County, where he continued his cooking while Mike gardened. Regi loved tomatoes, and grew the biggest, best tomatoes in Cloverdale. Together Regi and Mike grew and canned fruits and vegetables. Regi's last culinary triumph was perfecting a Cloverdale sourdough starter and bread, which he sold to neighbors and friends in Cloverdale.
A Memorial Celebration will be held at the United Church of Cloverdale, 439 N. Cloverdale Blvd, Cloverdale, CA, at 1:00 PM on February 20, 2016. Please, if you have any stories of Regi, bring them to the celebration. A reception and potluck will follow after in the church fellowship hall.
Memorial donations can be made to Dolores Street Community Services, Richard M. Cohen Residence, online, or at 938 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110. Arrangements by Fred Young F. H. Cloverdale, 707-894-2540.