Pearl Marie Burns

A candle was lit by Dee on April 23, 2017 9:31 PM

Message from Dee Rightley

This is a terrible loss to Albuquerque and the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, and to me, it is the loss of a dear friend. Pearl was aptly named as she was a pearl of great worth. I have never met anyone who was so multi-talented and so humble of heart as she. She joined the Hoofers a few weeks after Burley died as she "wanted to lose a little weight". She stayed near the back of the line up the trail, chatting as we all went along. Someone would ask me what the name of a certain flower was. I had been studying, hoping to have answers. I would proclaim it as a "such and such". Mostly I was wrong. But Pearl never let on about her expertise in such matters. I asked her one day why she didn't correct me and she thought I might be embarrassed. What a heart she had!
One time, she and Jeanette came to my house in the Jemez, and after chatting and having lunch, we walked down the little canyon below my home. She knew the name of EVERYTHING, both the flowers and the green leaves! "Here, chew on this leaf." It tasted GOOD!
She knew my husband before I did - at UNM. She dated the mechanical engineering students, his classmates. They had a great time laughing together as we carted her and their packs back from a hike. She was so fun!
Finding out she had been director of nurses way back then really surprised me, too. Having her come to my house in the Jemez and bring her sewing machine to teach me how to make appliqued sweat shirts (or any other kind of garment) surprised me. Having a trail named for her did NOT surprise me, as I knew what a fantastic person and hike leader she was by that time. She could do everything mostly better than anyone else. I didn't play bridge with her, but I bet she would "set" me every time. She was a gifted teacher of all of us in many ways. She will be sorely missed, especially by me. Dee

A candle was lit by Larry and Phyllis Rapagnani on April 20, 2017 8:08 AM

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Oh Pearl, we walked so many miles together and shared so many excellent meals with ice cream and cake on your birthday high in the mountains. A place we could all be ourselves - one with nature and the beautiful flowers. You were like walking with an encyclopedia on flowers. We will miss you and your inflectious laugh and smile. Rest in peace our dear friend - we love you.