By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor
Barbara Burns, who spent her life advocating and improving the Northside through a multitude of public service activities, passed away on Nov. 5 at Allegheny General Hospital after a battle with illness. She was 76 years old.
Burns, who was born on Dec. 3, 1948, was a life-long resident of the Northside, and it is difficult to overstate the impact she had on the community. Northside children likely best know her as one of the co-founders of Northside Pumpkinfest, an event she organized for 31 years.
However, Burns’ contributions to the Northside go beyond Pumpkinfest. She founded East Allegheny Community Council (EACC), which works to revitalize the Deutschtown National Historic District, and she championed preservation efforts during the construction of Interstate 279. During the course of her life, she served as president of the Pittsburgh Board of Education, became the first Pittsburgh woman to become a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was a Pittsburgh City Council person from 2000 to 2004 and owned and operated the Sweet Time General Store on East Ohio Street.
“It is hard for me to summarize Barb’s incredible legacy,” said Kathleen Dapper, the current president of EACC. “She’s been such an important part of East Allegheny and the Northside for decades.”
Dapper called Burns the “heart and soul” of the neighborhood, especially citing her organization of Pumpkinfest. According to Dapper, the last iteration of the event brought in around 1,300 kids.
The annual festival got its start in 1991 when it was founded by Burns and Carole Annis. The two women were both school directors with Pittsburgh Public Schools at the time. Burns created Deutschtown Pumpkinfest while Annis made a sister event called Brightwood Pumpkinfest.
The two festivals would later merge and, save for a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, entertained generations of Northside kids.
Recently, Burns passed lead organization of the event over to a committee of neighborhood groups, though she stayed on to help with setting up the 31st Pumpkinfest, which took place on Oct. 11 earlier this year.
Former Northside Leadership Conference Executive Director Mark Fatla most remembers Burns during her time chairing the Historic Deutschtown Development Corp., a leadership conference committee created during Fatla’s term in office.
The committee worked to better East Ohio Street, purchasing and improving real estate along the corridor and attracting stores to transform the road into a main street. Fatla said Burns, through her work with the committee, “did a lot to change the image of East Ohio Street.”
“She was ubiquitous at being where she needed to be where she could advocate for her neighborhood,” Fatla said. “And when I say her neighborhood, I don’t mean just Deutschtown, but the entire Northside.”
One business which was majorly affected by Burns’ presence is The Priory Hotel and Grand Hall. Previously known as St. Mary’s Church and Priory, the building was under threat of demolition during construction of Interstate 279, but Burns advocated for preservation of the structure, which dates back to 1888.
Later, when the church was purchased by Edward and Mary Ann Graf, Burns helped to convince the neighborhood of the pair’s plan to convert it into a hotel and event space.
“The thing to keep in mind is that without that neighborhood support, the project probably doesn’t get done,” John Graf, Ed and Mary Ann’s son and current president and CEO of Priory Hospitality Group, told The Chronicle.
John said his parents had been concerned about how the community was going to accept their plans, but Burns helped to win over the support of the public. The Priory is still in operation today and functions as a major landmark in the community.
“Barbara had the vision to say ‘If we go in and let the Grafs do this, this could be transformative to the neighborhood,” John said.
Even once the renovations converting St. Mary’s into The Priory were finished, John said Burns still helped out. John could recall her helping to put together metal frames used for the beds in the hotel.
“She was literally doing the installation of furniture work, and it’s just because she wanted to see the project get done and see the project succeed,” he said.
Raymond Meyer, member of the Allegheny City Society and a frequent volunteer on Burns’ political campaigns, called her the “number one advocate for the Northside and the community.”
In particular, Meyer cited Burns’ ability to get people to volunteer and businesses to donate toward public events and projects.
“Her legacy will probably live on and needs to live on with the people that she mentored and volunteered with,” he said.
Mark Masterson, executive director of the Neighborhood Community Development Fund (NCDF), is one person who became majorly involved in the Northside thanks to Burns. Burns hired Masterson in 1987 to serve as a community organizer at EACC, having come from working in the governor’s office in Kentucky beforehand.
It was early on in his time working there that Masterson realized Burns’ dedication to her community.
“I think it was my second day there when she, probably around 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon, said ‘OK, we’ve got to go water the canal,’” Masterson said.
Confused at the time, Masterson found out Burns meant keeping wooden beams which were removed from a canal during construction of Interstate 279 wet so they could later be repurposed.
“That was just one of the things she took on to do on top of everything else she was doing,” he said. “She was always taking on stuff others shied away from because she thought it was important.”
He also praised Burns’ work on the Pittsburgh School Board, saying it was a priority for her to ensure kids on the Northside got a quality education. And, despite what many may believe, she wasn’t paid for that work.
“That is like a full-time unpaid job,” he said. “Everybody thinks school directors get paid a gazillion dollars. They get paid exactly $0.”
Masterson also worked on many of Burns’ political campaigns and said she faced many forms of adversity as a woman running for political office. He could recall phone banking for her and encountering misogynistic comments about her.
Despite these troubles, he said Burns was graceful whenever she did lose an election, and that she “dusted herself off and kept moving.”
Masterson worked at EACC for around a year, and during that time Burns’ dedication to public service rubbed off on him. Today, in addition to leading the NCDF, he also is the Chair of Friends of Riverview Park, which advocates for improvements to Riverview Park, the Northside’s largest public park.
While beloved by the Northside community as a whole, Burns’ death has hit none perhaps harder than her family, especially due to a compounding tragedy. Barbara’s brother Howard Burns Jr. passed away a day after her funeral.
“For me, it’s still a sudden passing,” said Nancy Burns, one of Barbara’s three sisters. “Even though she had been sick for a while, when she came home from the hospital, she was always well.”
Nancy called Howard her sister’s “shadow,” always willing to help her out. The same held true for much of her family.
“Barbara didn’t do anything from the community standpoint without her family,” Nancy said.
Nancy believes her sister’s community focus was majorly shaped by their father, Howard Burns Sr., who taught them to be civically-minded. The construction of Interstate 279, which “gutted” much of the Burns’ childhood neighborhood, was also a major factor.
“It greatly impacted us,” Nancy said. “The interstate was going to stop three houses from our home.”
While the past few weeks have been a difficult time for the family, Nancy said the remaining Burns are dedicated to continuing Barbara’s legacy, including seeing to it that her shop, Sweet Time General Store, is reopened the day after Thanksgiving.
“The hardest part for me (when it comes to running the store) is I know it was hand curated by my sister, so I probably don’t want to sell very much,” Nancy said.
Nevertheless, she’s been inspired by seeing how much of the community has come out to mourn Barbara and celebrate her life.
“My sister never quit until she drew her last breath,” Nancy said. “As I draw my last breath, I will pick up my sister’s baton and make sure this good work continues.”
Barbara’s funeral was held on Nov. 10 at Thomas P. Kunsak Funeral Home, and she was interned at Union Dale Cemetery. The family has asked members of the public wishing to honor Barbara make donations to the EACC toward future Pumpkinfests.
