John Howard Burns, age 66, of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, tragically passed away on August 23rd, 2024 doing what he loved climbing a Colorado 14,000 foot peak (14er). John was born August 30th, 1957, to Ronald P. Burns and Mary Lou (Anderson) Burns, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
John grew up in several small towns as the family moved around Nebraska and graduated from Yutan High School in 1975. In high school, John was in several sports and played the trumpet in band. He entered into the US Air Force as a weather specialist in 1979 and transferred into the Arizona Air Force National Guard in 1981, and was honorably discharged in 1985.
John's brother Karl traveled to Arizona in 1982 to pick jojoba beans in the desert with his brother. For four months they picked and sold their beans around the Phoenix area. During that time, they lived out of their pickups and survived on the desert landscape.
John met his forever wife, Nita, in 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. They were married in Gering, Nebraska on July 18th, 1985 and settled in their permanent home in Scottsbluff. From this marriage came four beautiful children Janet, Joshua, Stephanie, and Ashley.
John had worked at Peerless Tires for many years, refining his skills before he ultimately opened Budget Tire in 1995. John strived to turn this into a family oriented environment, at one point having his three youngest children all working in different aspects of his business. After 20 years of having a successful business, John moved on to BNSF Railroad.
He finished out his working years, and looked forward to retirement. The family was a member of Bluff View Church of Christ for many years. John and Nita were very active in their children's lives.
They attended band performances by Janet; tackling and throwing in football/wrestling by Josh; diving across the court and running superfast in volleyball & track by Stephanie; and shooting 3-pointers by Ashley. When all the activities and sports had stopped with the children, John & Nita were able to begin to live through their grandchildren. John was very active and in later years could be seen walking around town, which sparked his interest in hiking.
In September 2019, John convinced Stephanie & Ashley to hike their first adventure, Laramie Peak. It then quickly evolved into hiking and climbing peaks in Colorado. John researched every peak, sparking his interest in all the 14ers, with the ultimate goal of completing all 58 peaks.
In June 2024, John was able to celebrate his 3 daughters and their spouses, on their 14er by summiting Culebra Peak. John had to show them all up by hiking Culebra Peak three times, hiking Red Mountain Peak, and finished the day by jogging the last mile to the 2-wheel drive trailhead. John was able to complete 42 out of the 58 fourteeners on August 23, 2024.
John was preceded in death by his parents Ronald P. Burns and Mary Lou Burns. Survivors include his wife of 39 years Nenita M.
Burns; four children Janet (Jerry) Wheeler; Joshua (Jennifer) Burns; Stephanie (Cory) Quevedo; and Ashley (Christopher) Guzman; his brother Karl (Janelle) Burns and nephew Matthew; 10 grandchildren and one great granddaughter. John's celebration of life will be held at Trails West Pavilion in Scottsbluff, NE on September 27th , 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
The family would like to give special thanks to Custer County (Colorado) Sheriff's department and the Custer County Search and Rescue (SAR) team. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in honor of John's name to https://custersar.org/ donate/.
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