Beatrice Burns

Beatrice Majors Van Vleet Burns (February 2, 1906 – February 28, 1988) was the First Lady of Hawaii for three terms. Born in Oregon and raised in numerous states, she became a registered nurse, joined the United States Army Nurse Corps, and moved to Hawaii. She met Hawaii's future governor John A. Burns during a picnic at Hanauma Bay, when he was a college student. Together they had four children, one of whom was born premature and died when she was struck by poliomyelitis. She never fully recovered from her paralysis, but lived a full life as a wife and mother. While First Lady of Hawaii, she restored the governor's residence of Washington Place.

Early life and marriage She was born February 20, 1906, in Sumpter, Oregon, to teachers Thomas Stanton Van Fleet and Bessie Majors. The family moved dozens of times throughout California, Oregon, and Nevada.

After training as a registered nurse at the San Jose Hospital School of Nursing, she joined the United States Army Nurse Corps and was assigned to Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, before being transferred to Schofield Barracks on Oahu in 1930. John A. Burns (Jack) was a student at the University of Hawaii with a night switchboard job at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Their first date was a group picnic at Hanauma Bay. Afterwards, they continued dating, eventually deciding to marry. He dropped out of college and left the newspaper to take a better-paying job with the Hawaiian Pineapple Company. They married at Schofield Barracks on June 8, 1931. She was a lieutenant at the time.

When the Great Depression affected jobs at the pineapple cannery, they joined her parents working on a farm in Mendocino County, California. They returned to Hawaii in 1932, with Jack working at another cannery, eventually joining the Honolulu Police Department. Their first child, John Jr. (Jack Jr.), was born in 1932, followed by a daughter, Mary Beth, in 1934.

Polio While pregnant in 1935, Beatrice became ill with poliomyelitis during her final trimester and delivered a premature son, William, who died within hours. The disease left her paralyzed. Medical practice in that era dictated that she be completely immobilized; nevertheless, she became pregnant again. Advised by her doctors to abort the fetus, she and Jack opted for alternative treatment from Seishiro Okazaki of the Nikko Sanatorium of Restoration Massage in Honolulu. Okazaki freed her from the medical splints placed on her, massaged her and used a therapy of exercise and hot seaweed-water baths. The treatments were considered a success in that she regained the use of her arms and head and began to see overall physical improvements. However, she never regained use of her legs and spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. She gave birth to James Seishiro Burns (Jim) in 1937. She had not converted to Jack's Catholic faith before their marriage, but did so after Jim's birth.

The couple celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. When he ran for the office a second time, Jack won the 1962 gubernatorial race in Hawaii. The week before the election, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ran cooking recipes from the wives of candidates. Beatrice's was West Indian shrimp curry. She was an active First Lady of Hawaii during all three of his terms as governor, hosting diplomats and legislators, and planning her children's weddings. After George Ariyoshi won the 1974 election for governor, Beatrice and Jim represented the already very sick Jack at the inaugural. Jack died on April 5, 1975, and was buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific.

Beatrice died on February 28, 1988, and was buried next to her husband.