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A resident of Hamden most of her life, she was a graduate of Albertus Magnus College and Yale Law School.
After 25 years in the state's Legislative Commissioners' Office, she had a long career as a state and federal judge, named Connecticut's first female Superior Court Judge in 1974, and the first female Federal Judge in the state in 1978. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter. Burns retired in 2015 at the age of 91.
In an interview on the United States Court government website, Burns recounted being one of few women at Yale Law School in the 1940s. She also said she turned down her first opportunity to serve the courts.
Burns was born in New Haven on December 13, 1923, daughter of the late Vincent T. and Mildred (Bannon) Bree. She was the widow of Joseph P. Burns.
She is survived by daughter, Sister Mary Ellen Burns of Hamden; sons, Joseph Bree Burns of Hamden and Kevin James Burns and his wife Cynthia of East Hartford; grandchildren, Michelle Pigott, Colleen E. Burns, Joseph P. Burns II, Kyle V. Burns, Kory K. Burns, Sarah Grace Burns and Jessica E. Burns; great-grandchildren, Liam and Ava Pigott; nieces, Kathleen Ramunni and Ellen Nosel, and nephew Paul V. Ramunni.
Burns was predeceased by her sisters, Barbara Bree, and Marilyn Bree Ramunni.
Calling hours are Friday, June 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, June 8 at 9 a.m. at Beecher & Bennett Funeral Home, 2300 Whitney Ave., Hamden.
A Mass of Christian Burial is Saturday, June 8 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, 2819 Whitney Ave., Hamden.
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