‘A song of praise’: Memorial held for UF student Ian Burns

Rick Burns told mourners not to grieve for his late son.

With tears in his eyes, Rick Burns stood at the Baughman Center podium and said friends and family should share stories and laugh at fond memories of 20-year-old Ian Burns.

“They say you die twice,” he said. “The first time our physical bodies go, the second time is when people stop telling our stories.”

More than 50 gathered Thursday at 1 p.m. to honor the life of Ian, a UF mechanical engineering and music performance sophomore, at the Baughman Center on-campus chapel, located at 982 Museum Road. He died Oct. 21 after police said he fell from a third-floor balcony at 13th Street Apartments, otherwise known as University House Apartments.

At the service, seven pictures of Ian from early childhood to his six-week trip to Europe in May leaned side by side against the walls. Each picture shined with the bright smile he was known for.

“What I’d like to do is share some of Ian’s story, so we all remember him, and hopefully smile,” Rick Burns said.

The room lit up with laughter as he recounted his son’s child-like spirit.

Ian led an effort to dress like princesses and dressed as Snow White himself for his senior year Disney-themed Homecoming Day at Suncoast Community High School. He auditioned for the Fall 2015 musical decked out in full German lederhosen gear and sang a bastardized version of “Do Re Mi,” replacing the lyrics with beer references.

“That was Ian, always the performer,” Rick Burns said. “He was unembarrassable (sic).”

UF President Kent Fuchs opened the ceremony with his own take on how to live with grief.

“My experience is that you never completely recover from such losses; time doesn’t heal all wounds,” Fuchs said, referencing English poet Philip Larkin. “‘What will survive of us is love,’ and it will survive in those we leave behind.”

One by one, relatives and close friends shared memories.

Ian’s sister Caitlin Burns, 23, said he was her second pair of legs during their trip to Europe in May after she injured herself. From the tallest mountain they hiked in Wales to growing up back home in Palm Beach Gardens, he was there for her no matter what, she said.

Through tears, Ian’s mother, Monique Burns, read excerpts of a poem she wrote for the service.

“Sing a song of praise, sing a song of sweet memory,” she said, her voice shaking. “Very few live life with a smile; fewer still make others smile.”

Kyle Cortes, a friend of Ian’s from high school and one of his two roommates, told those gathered that Ian was more than just a friend.

Cortes said Ian was the baby of the apartment, being a year younger than Cortes and their other roommate, Kevin Wheatle. He was “Squirly Boy” because of how he liked to climb trees and the way he could just make you smile, the UF music performance junior said. He was the worst grilled-cheese-sandwich maker he ever knew.

“Through his friendship, I found wholeness when I was still homesick and lonely,” Cortes said. “Through his friendship, I found love.”

To close out the ceremony, Cortes, Wheatle and Ian’s friends from the UF School of Music, Aaron Mares, Madison Barrett and Claire Tendl, stood by a piano and sang one of Ian’s favorite pieces, Aaron Copland’s “At the River.”

Monique and Rick Burns stood and embraced each other as their son’s friends honored him with a harmony that rang throughout the chapel.

It’s not about the number of years in a life, but rather the life lived in those years, Rick Burns said. His son lived life to the fullest, and he encouraged everyone to follow suit.

“Ian was a soul that shined extremely bright,” he said. “Keep these memories alive, and Ian will still be alive in our hearts.”

Ian Burns’ parents, Monique and Rick, embrace one another as a group of Ian’s friends perform the song “At the River” by Aaron Copland inside the Baughman Center on Thursday afternoon.

Ian Burns’ parents, Monique and Rick, hold each other’s hands as Ian’s friends share stories and memories of him.