Graveside services for Howard Russell Burns are Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. at Rose Hill Cemetery. Brookhaven Funeral Home (Natchez Drive) is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation will be Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, from 9 until 10 a.m. at the funeral home.

Mr. Burns, 87, died Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, in Franklin, Tennessee. He was born on Aug. 29, 1928, in Newton to Julia Russell Burns and Howard Martin Burns.

He was educated in the Brookhaven schools, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry.

Following dental school, Dr. Burns saw combat service with the 1st Marine Division in Korea and later retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve with the rank of commander.  He was a retired dentist who practiced in Brookhaven for his entire career.  He was a past president of the Mississippi Dental Association and a fellow of both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.

His civic involvement included being a past district governor of Lions International, the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America, serving as trustee of the First United Methodist Church in Brookhaven and serving as trustee of the Lincoln County Public Library for 45 years.  He was a commissioner of the Mississippi Library Commission for 15 years, a delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, and was king of the Krewe of Ceres in Brookhaven in 1985.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and his wife, Mary Louise Brister Burns.

Survivors are their son, John Brister Burns and wife, Rebecca Poole Burns, of Franklin, Tennessee, and their children, John Brister Burns Jr. and Grace Lanier Burns; two nephews; and one niece.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Lincoln County Public Library or to a charity of one’s choice.

To share condolences please visit www.brookhavenfuneralhome.net.