Ronald Aubrey Burns, age 88, passed away on January 19th, 2026. He was a resident of Monument, Colorado for only a few months, and was formerly a resident of Louisburg, KS, Austin, TX (28 years) and Colorado Springs, CO (35 years). He was a retired business owner and retired Air Force Fighter pilot.
Ronald was born on December 12th, 1937, to Luther Aubrey Burns and Jeri Burns (Unsel) in Little Rock, AR. On November 11th, 1965, he married Zoe Cooley in Phoenix, AZ.
Ron was fond of riding motorcycles on long rides through the hill country of central TX. He also enjoyed building scale models and touring the country in their RV. He attended Hilcrest High School in Dallas, TX and graduated in 1956. He went on to graduate from Texas Tech and received a master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He served in the United States Air Force as a Fighter Pilot in the F4 Phantom with the 417th TFW in Ramstein, Germany & Mountain Home AFB, ID; 1 year in Vietnam as a Forward Air Controller; 4 years at Reese AFB, Lubbock, TX, as a flight commander, followed by 4 years at the Air Force Academy as the 12th Squadron Commander leading 120 cadets. Ron then had another unaccompanied tour in Korea for 1 year, finishing his distinguished 23-year Air Force Career as the Air Officer Commanding at Fort Carson, CO.
He is survived by his loving wife Zoe and his sons Ronald Jr. and Darren; his grandchildren Katelyn, Ronald III, Emily, Devin, Alyssa, Hunter and Gillian; and 10 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his stepdaughter Tami, and his brother Jerry.
A memorial service will be held at 10am on Friday, January 30th, 2026 at Shrine of Remembrance (1730 East Fountain Blvd, Colorado Springs CO) followed by a 12 o’clock interment and honor guard at Pikes Peak National Cemetery (10545 Drennan Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80925). A reception will be held at Jurrito Loco (315 E Hwy 105, Monument, CO 80132).