Mark D. Burns

Mark Douglas Burns, born in Dayton, OH on June 3, 1958, to the late Hubert Melvin and Doris Halese (White) Burns, transitioned from this life after an extended health battle on August 16, 2023, while in the care of Dayton Hospice. 

Mark's life was deeply entrenched in the Dayton surrounding area beginning with participation in his community's youth sports programs as well as his matriculation in the Dayton Public Schools at Radcliffe Elementary, Jefferson Jr. High and ending his school career at Jefferson Sr. High School in 1977. 

While in school, he successfully participated in organized sports resulting in his lettering in basketball, football and track.  During his high school career, Jefferson High was nationally ranked and known for winning 60 consecutive football games and also ranked in the state's top fourteen in basketball, culminating in a trip to the final four during his senior season.

Mark lived his life on his own terms and wouldn't let anyone steer him from his chosen paths. One of his many gifts in life was his ability to accumulate and nurture, in his own way, many friendships that he cherished. He also had a knack for compartmentalizing each relationship in their own categories with only a few overlapping while others maintained their own special place in his sphere.  

Everyone could confidently say that Mark was extremely loyal, as well as intentional, to each of his relationships starting with his childhood friends in and around his Jefferson Township neighborhood of Liberty-Meadows.  Childhood friends; high school classmates; those he met throughout his career in the trucking industry; to his home-away-from-home hangouts, all morphed from casual relationships to "family".  His smile, his presence and his “colorful” conversations will truly be missed.  

Mark was preceded in death by his parents, brother Kenneth Gordon, and niece, Angela W. King. 

He leaves to cherish his memory: his bonus niece, Paulette T. Owens (Will D, III) of Landsdale, PA; niece, DeAnna W. Thomas (Terrance) of Atlanta, GA; great-nephews, Devon Turner of North Wales, PA and Derrick Howard of Conyers, GA; great-niece, Desiree King; and great-great twin nephews, Grayson Levi and Nolan Ace, all of Conyers, GA, special godmother, Grace Graham of Jefferson Township, along with numerous relatives and friends.
 

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