Page 7 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

Column September 16,2007

JAMES BURNS. AN ARTIST WITH FLOWERS

James A. Bums (CHS 1947) died in Jacksonville on Wednesday, September 5,
at age 79. He was a renowned floral designer and the founder of James Burns
Florist.

For 60 years, he had provided exquisite floral arrangements for many of
Jacksonville’s prominent social and business events as well a weddings and
funerals. He had been named Jacksonville’s “Floral Designer of the Year”, and
he had also been elected president of both the Jacksonville Florist Club and the
Florida Florists Association.

James was also nationally recognized for his floral artistry. According to his
partner, Jim Jarrard, James had created arrangements for world leaders such as
President John F. Kennedy, President Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth, Eleanor
Roosevelt (the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), and Egyptian president,
Anwar Sadat.

James grew up in Lake City and he had a natural love for flowers from his youth.
As a child, he picked wild flowers and arranged them to bring out their most
perfect beauty.

Young James was an artist searching for his mission and he found that mission
in flower arranging. Sallie Williams (CHS1948) attended the First Methodist
Church with James when they were teens, and she remembers that he created
breath-taking floral arrangements for many of the church’s special events.

James was generous with his God-given talent and arranged flowers for many
functions around town and never asked for a penny in pay.

In all his fame and recognition, James never changed from being the good, kind,
gentle person he had always been.

Rest in peace, James Bums. You made the world a better place for all of us
through your enormous talents and your basic goodness as a human being.
The beauty you created lives on in our hearts and memories.

SCHOOL MUSEUM THANKS

School Museum thanks to Gwen O’Steen who has donated photos of 1950’s
teachers Badger Langford, Mary McConnaghy, T.O. Morgan, and Clarice Evans.

Gwen also gave two elementary school group photos, one of Claude Fralick’s
class and one Of Ava Herlong’s class. Some pictured in Mr. Fralick’s class are

1
www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 644B81FB-81A1-47B2-8D77-49DC2A1A0BE8