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Thomas E. Burns, 78, of Alamogordo, NM, passed away on Thursday, February 13, 2025, during a brief hospital stay with his family by his side.
Tom was born in 1946 to John and Dorothy Burns in Mississippi and grew up in Adams, NY. One of “The Burns’ Boys”, Tom and his five brothers made 26 Wardwell St. a notorious center of activity. Tom graduated from Adams Center-Adams High School in 1964 and attended South Jefferson Community College before enlisting in the US Air Force in 1966 where he served 12 years as an electronic technician. He retired from the Border Patrol in 2004.
Tom married his high school sweetheart, Trudy Cagwin, in 1967 and had a son, Scott, and a daughter, Tamie. Once firmly ensconced in New Mexico, Tom began training, showing and breeding horses, mostly Arabians. In later years, he began extensive family genealogy research. A talented man, Tom was able to sleep, snore and play the guitar (always the same song) at the same time. He could even lull a toddler to sleep while driving a tractor. He was an avid viewer of NASCAR, goats, and Championship Quad-Ball, Go Bearsharks! Tom wasn’t afraid to tell anyone what tasks a trained monkey could do. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy that way. Tom was always helping others, whether mowing a yard, moving an airplane or feeding a praying mantis to fatten it up for the cat.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, John and Dorothy Burns; brothers, John and Ronald; brother-in-law, Lyman Goodrich; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Morris and Teresa Cagwin.
He is survived by wife, Trudy Burns; son, Scott Burns; daughter, Tamie Olazaba; grandsons, Chandler Olazaba (Sarah) and Carsen Olazaba; brothers, Robert Burns (Sharon), Donald Burns (Kerri), Richard Burns (Kathy); sisters-in-law, Molly Burns, Dawn Burns, Barbara Goodrich, Peggy Flaherty (George); numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Tom will be greatly missed, and we promise him two things: first, that we won’t disassemble the wooden puzzle cube, because he won’t be around to reassemble it, and second, that we will always think twice before running amok in a hardware store.
The Burns family has entrusted their loved one to the care of Alamogordo Funeral Home. No public services will be held.
