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Video was filmed and edited by Vina Cristobal of UH Med Now.

John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) faculty, staff and students joined hands in prayer, remembering the late James S. Burns, longtime friend of the University of Hawaiʻi, during a ceremony in his honor last week. The memorial service was held in the JABSOM Mala Laʻau Lapaʻau, or Native Hawaiian healing garden, a setting where those gathered could reflect on the retired judge’s life and his many contributions in support of the school.

A lama tree planted in Judge Burns’ honor in the JABSOM healing garden.

Burns’ widow, Emme Tomimbang, television host and producer, and his adult children, Brendan Burns, an educator, and Meredith Burns, an attorney, attended the garden ceremony which included the planting of a lama tree, which is associated with enlightenment, in the Honorable James Burns’ name.

Burns was incredibly dedicated to the medical school that was named after his father John A. Burns, Hawaiʻi’s former governor. Even when he was a busy justice on the state’s second-highest court, Burns attended virtually every JABSOM White Coat Ceremony, Convocation Ceremony and Dean’s Circle event. He offered his advice and counsel as a member of the board of the University Health Partners of Hawaiʻi and served as president of the Friends of the Medical School, which was established to support medical students and their families. He was also a trusted advisor and close friend to JABSOM Dean Jerris Hedges.

For more on the memorial, read the full story on the John A. Burns School of Medicine website.

The Burns family plants the lama tree in the JABSOM healing garden.

Go to the JABSOM Flickr site for more photo from the memorial.

—By Tina Shelton

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