Bill Burns Funeral

Bill Burns was a lay missioner from the United States who spent the last twenty years of his life in Cambodia, mostly teaching English to Cambodian seminarians and to many Cambodians for whom English would be a major step in their personal development and ability to take care of themselves in a rapidly evolving culture.

Bill died 15 March 2022 and we celebrated his life with us at his funeral at the Church of the Child Jesus in Phnom Penh on 24 March.

Bill had taught in Korea prior to coming to Cambodia. Several of the Korean Jesuits joined the funeral liturgy along with the Maryknoll community that Bill was part of during his time here.
Fr. Damien Fahrner, of the French mission group, is the pastor at the Church of the Child Jesus where Bill was part of the community.






Maryknoll Sr. Regina Pellicore read a letter from Bill’s family in Canada who were not able to be present for the liturgy.








Fr. Charles Dittmeier had worked with Bill in the Maryknoll community and also in the larger lay mission community in Cambodia. He preached the homily at the mass.








Friends and colleagues of Bill lit incense and sprinkled holy water on his coffin at the end of the ceremony.