Lon Leland (Bud) Burns, 72, of Nashville, Tenn., a native of Steele, Mo., died Tuesday, November 23, 1993 at Baptist Hospital, following an apparent heart attack. He was a son of the late Lon Leland and Lillie Jane Mooney Burns.

He was a promising athlete at Southeast Missouri State, having played two years of basketball there, but World War II interrupted. Many who knew him in those days believe that it may have kept him out of the big leagues. Mr. Burns received a Bronze Star for his participation with the 82nd Airborne Division in the D-Day invasion of France on June 6, 1944. He was wounded in action twice and received two Purple Hearts.

Mr. Burns played two years of fabasketball at Southeast Missouri State and, after the war, was a member of the touring semipro basketball team called The House of David. He also played in the old Washington Senators minor league system at Orlando, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., and in 1948 was a player-manager for the Fulton, Ky., team in the Class D Kitty League.

A retired managing sports editor of The Tennessean (Nashville), Mr. Burns joined the sports staff in May 1953, beginning a long career which included page designing, copy editing and, just a few years before his retirement, working as a beat reporter for the Class AAA Nashville Sounds.

Baseball was his major sports interest and over the years he became a familiar face at Major League All-Star games and the World Series. He was a longtime Gold Card member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. For many years Mr. Burns wrote a year-round baseball column for the newspaper called "Touching 'em All", often focusing on his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a sports staff member for 37 years before retiring in 1990.

A member of Calvary Methodist Church, Mr. Burns leaves his wife, Era Burns; Three sons: Lon Leland Burns Jr. and William Steven Burns, both of Savannah, Ga., and Robert Harris Burns of Nashville; A sister, Mrs. Don (Peggy) Coppage; One niece, Susie Suit; and Nine grandchildren.

Funeral services were conducted at 10:00 a.m. Friday, November 26, 1993, at Woodlawn Funeral Home with Greta Campbell and Dr. Vin Walkup officiating. Entombment was at Entombment Cross Mausoleum with arrangements by Woodlawn Funeral Home. Friends served as pallbearers.

(The Steele Enterprise, Steele, Missouri Thursday, December 2, 1993 )