Family spotlight...

He was the favorite of Aunt Elizabeth (Bea) and knew exactly who to go to as his ally throughout the years. His name is Pete, the eldest son of Hannah Ruth and Don Kee. He has a charm that he unapologetically used throughout his growing up within the Burns family. In the eyes of the Aunts, he could do no wrong.

 

Today, after leaving his footprints in Metuchen, NJ; Long Valley, NJ; Castleton, VT; West Port, NY he has finally settled down in retirement calling Murrieta, CA home. Happily married to Cathy for nearly eight years now Pete enjoys his friends along with golf and his love of custom automobiles.

 

After dedicating thirty eight years to the communications field he retired from Verizon in 2003. A career he is proud of, culminating in his management role on the team responsible for restoring the communication data service for Wall Street immediately after 9/11. As a result, being onsite at Ground Zero during that time will always have a profound impact on his life.

 

If not for leisure travel or taking on his favorite golf links, he can be found working on his collection of restored custom cars. Always an admirer of fast cars growing up, time now permits his passion to be a reality. To mention a few, a yellow '32 Chevy, '32 Ford roadster, restored pickups, '55 Chevy Nomads, custom one of one Harleys or his latest addition a '32 three window red coupe. Along the way he has won national recognition and awards for his driven art.

 

When talking about the family Blog and discussion centered around growing up in the Burns family Pete's favorite memories were tied to time spent at the Rosses. He recalls visiting the original home on Young's Road...no need for a security system back then, they had a boxer called Chang. Afterwards, the new home was built on the property and when we would be invited to enjoy the Fourth of July we navigated around a collection of black and tan terriers that Aunt Bea had shadow her every move (Personally my heels lost more than one encounter to the rust colored Betsy, never liked those dogs). Pete recalls his curiosity led him into the old jeep on the grounds only to be confronted with the ever present yellow jackets. Did we ever avoid a holiday there without someone not getting stung near the pool? It didn't matter the temperature, it could have been sixty two degrees on the 4th, we weren't going to pass up the opportunity to swim in a "in ground pool"...living the high life for a day.

 

Both Pete and Cathy wish everyone well and would love to hear from you. If you find yourself some day in Southern California please know the door is open, family...no matter what generational level is always welcomed. Mention your love for Aunt Bea and you'll probably get to drive one of the rods!