Sheridan Burns

Sheridan L. Burns, age 23, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, passed away on March 25, 2021.

Sheridan grew up in Minnesota and was a gifted student. He finished high school with many college credits already completed from St. Paul College through the PSEO program. He acquired his welding certificate first so that he would be self-sufficient sooner. He was an excellent welder and helped teach many other students to improve. He was always on the Dean’s List at the colleges he attended and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society. He was at the top of his class in completing his EMT certification at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, where he also worked ¾ time as a substitute teacher while attending school full time. He was a valued employee wherever he worked and always went the extra mile. He had a kind heart for those suffering and would often buy gas or food for people he met who needed help. As a substitute teacher in New Mexico he often took the difficult middle school and high school special education assignments. He was gifted at helping students learn math, writing, and to develop a growth mindset with hope for the future. He negotiated better situations for many self-contained special education students on a longer-term assignment at a high school in New Mexico. Sheridan was a bright light in the world. He, and the further contributions he would have made to make the world a better place, will be greatly missed.

When Sheridan was young, he found Jesus, and that showed brightly in his life. The struggles of life may have made him lose his way, but God never lost Sheridan. We know that Jesus is holding Sheridan in His arms now. Sheridan is his best self now and will be forever.

Sheridan is survived by his brother, Paul Burns, his mother, Jennifer Coleson, his father, Curtis Burns, his grandmothers Jill Ann Robinson and Margaret Burns, and his grandfather William Robinson.

An online memorial service will be held for close family members. There will not be visiting hours or an in-person funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org) in Sheridan’s name. It was his goal to get a PhD in Psychology and then do cutting-edge research to help those with mental illness. He was aware of the deep brokenness and limitations of our current mental health system, and he wanted to help to fix that and to provide better solutions.

Please consider furthering Sheridan’s mission and goals to help others by volunteering with NAMI or participating in their fundraisers and efforts to de-stigmatize mental illness in your local area. Please consider getting trained in Youth and/or Adult Mental Health First Aid (www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org) and suicide prevention (www.sprc.org), then reach out to those suffering and in need.

Please sign the online guestbook or leave your personal note to the family here.