Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Patrick J. Burns, SJ, who died on April 13, 2026 at St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He was 93 years old. May he rest in peace.
Pat is preceded in death by his parents, Michael and Catherine (nee Pringle). He is survived by his cousins, Patricia Koch and Mary Ann Koch.
Pat was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 2, 1933. He graduated from Marquette University High School before entering the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus on August 8, 1950 at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Missouri. He became a member of the Wisconsin Province when it was formed in 1955. He was ordained on June 11, 1963 at the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee and pronounced final vows on August 15, 1967 at the Marquette University Jesuit Community.
While in the Society, Pat earned a bachelor’s degree (1956), a master’s degree (1957), and a licentiate degree in philosophy (1957) from Saint Louis University. He also earned a licentiate in Sacred Theology (1964) and a doctorate in Sacred [Systematic] Theology (1968) from Woodstock College in Woodstock, Maryland.
During regency, Pat taught philosophy at Saint Louis University (1957-1958) and Latin and Greek at Marquette University High School (1958-1960). After ordination, he taught theology at Marquette University (1968-1969), Saint Louis University (1969-1971), and Marquette University (1971-1978).
Beginning in 1978, Pat focused his pastoral and administrative gifts to internal governance, providing excellent cura personalis for members of the Society of Jesus. He was missioned to the Wisconsin Province Office where he was the socius to provincial and the formation assistant (1978-1983) before Father General appointed him to be the provincial of the Wisconsin Province (1983-1989). Pat then spent five years as the president of the Jesuit Conference of the USA (1989-1994).
Always available to be missioned where the need was the greatest, Pat spent two years teaching theology at Hekima College in Nairobi, Kenya (1994-1996), three years as vice president of Marquette University (1996-1999), and then ten years at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. At Red Cloud, Pat was the vice president of finance (1999-2008), associate vice president for development and finance (2008-2009), and superior of the Jesuit community (2002-2008).
Pat then returned to internal governance in the Wisconsin Province Office. He was the director of planning and implementation for province reconfiguration (2009-2014), the province liaison for Ocer Campion Jesuit College in Gulu, Uganda (2009-2011), socius to the provincial (2011-2014), and executive assistant for special projects (2015-2017). In addition, he was superior of the St. Camillus Jesuit Community (2010-2011), treasurer of the Arrupe House Community in Milwaukee (2015-2020), and treasurer of St. Camillus Jesuit Community (2015-2023). In 2015, Pat was missioned to St. Camillus to pray for the Church and the Society.
Pat was a devoted Jesuit priest who was available to be missioned where the need was the greatest – whether that be university teaching, internal governance, or international ministries. He had a great sense of humor and was able to bring joy to others with a smile, a joke, or a clever witticism. Pat was a great listener, easy to talk with, and people easily confided in him. He had remarkable administrative skills which he used to foster and improve the day-to-day workings of the apostolate to which he was missioned.
Fr. Andy Alexander, SJ, has this to say about Pat:
Pat’s bold leadership inspired me. As provincial he sent a large sum of money to Fr. General for the formation of Jesuits in struggling Provinces. As president of the Jesuit Conference, at the time of the assassinations in El Salvador, he wrote a powerful letter, on our behalf, to the Congressional task force investigating the killings. In it, he said, “Silence would be a betrayal of the Jesuit vocation and communal conscience.”
Br. Mike Zimmerman, SJ, has these memories of Pat:
Pat was easy to talk to. He heard whatever I needed to say. If there was a problem to be fixed, he encouraged me to fix it as I thought I should. He never second-guessed the decision that came from our conversation. I always felt he trusted me and supported me. He was a wise superior, and he and I became close friends.
Fr. George Winzenburg, SJ, states this about Pat:
Pat learned to love the worldwide Society by engaging it throughout the world. He studied at Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a tertian in Belgium. He taught at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. He traveled to East Africa and the Philippines. He was a delegate to GC33. All that was quite an accomplishment for someone who grew up in West Allis, Wisconsin!
Pat held prominent leadership roles in the Society of Jesus as formation director, socius, provincial of the Wisconsin Province, and president of the Jesuit Conference USA. He spent 10 years at Red Cloud Indian School as vice president of finance and superior of the community. He initiated planning projects, developed partnerships with Jesuit provinces in Africa, India, and South America. and assisted in the reconfiguration of Jesuit provinces in the Midwest. A brilliant thinker, Pat was a visionary, a planner, and a wisdom figure for Jesuit leaders, and a trustworthy advocate for all Jesuits. He was also an avid astronomer and a birdwatcher. His finest memories were serving as fire chief at Woodstock College and smoking a pipe at Lake Angostura, the villa for Red Cloud Indian School.
Fr. Dan McDonald, SJ, has this to say about Pat:
On June 26, 2014, Arrupe House Milwaukee had a prayer service for Pat Burns as he prepared to move to St. Camillus. During that service, community members prayed in thanksgiving for Pat’s simplicity, his transparency, his service to the Church and the Society, his wisdom, his openness to new ideas, and his kindness to all of us. For me those prayers made real Pat’s presence in every moment he was in my life from formation director, to socius, to provincial, to Marquette University. In all geographies Pat remained the consistent example of a great Jesuit who saw himself on mission for the service of all under his care. Too, and deeply touching were his relationships and care for his cousin and her child and the long friendship with John and Odel Dwyer. Pat came alive with a twinkle in his eye when he thought of many Jesuit friends like Dick McCaslin and his lay friends. One could see his sense of joy and great interest in those encounters. His deep sense of a God of mercy who forgives remains a touchstone to my understanding of God’s presence in my own life. In large measure, Pat was key in my remaining a Jesuit. He was a great companion in the Lord and I will miss his presence, but am filled with gratitude for what he taught me. . . . and those gifts remain.
