Thomas Joseph Burns

Thomas Joseph Burns, widely known as T.J. Burns, passed away on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. He was 35 years old. 

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T.J. was born to Thomas and Pamela Burns on October 3, 1989. He graduated from Wayne Valley High School and played on the varsity soccer team. He went on to graduate from William Paterson University with a degree in exercise science.

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From his early childhood through his high school and early college years, T.J. was the guy that everybody wanted to be around. He was funny, sharp, and loyal- and knew how to work hard for the things he cared about. 

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T.J. loved his family. To his mother, he was her one and only "baby son." His father never missed a single soccer game. His older sister, Lindsey, could often be found in his room on school nights, helping him complete a school assignment or write a paper. His younger sister, Dana, looked up to him as her soccer hero. Both sisters and his parents loved T.J. very much.

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T.J. also had a group of cherished family cousins he spent countless memorable times with growing up. The time the cousins spent together as kids made up so many of those golden childhood moments- the kind a person remembers even later in life and can't help but smile.  

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And all throughout his school years, T.J. had the same close circle of friends. The group remained almost unchanged all the way through high school. Whether it was weekdays at Wayne Valley, weekends on the soccer field, or weeknights in an endless rotation of visiting one another's houses, it truly seemed that they were always together. They were teammates, friends and brothers.  

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T.J. was surrounded by family and friends like these all the best years of his life. His story simply cannot be told without them.