Kevin Burr, an assistant coach on the baseball team, passed away on Jan. 6 while attending the Baseball Coaches convention in Orlando, Fla. He was 54.
The cause of death was a heart attack, said Tufts baseball coach John Casey.
Burr joined Casey and his staff prior to the 2005 season and served as the infield coach on a team that posted 20-plus wins in both years.
"Tufts baseball is a tribe, and we lost one of our chiefs," said senior tri-captain Ben Simon, who is also a sports editor with the Daily. "It has been sad. We will be together in getting through this, and we are looking forward to honoring him this season when we take the field."
"He was just the warmest person you will ever meet," Simon continued. "He always had nice things to say and was very positive. He wasn't the 'pat you on the back if you did something wrong' kind of guy, but he always kept you believing that you could get better. He was just so well liked; there wasn't a kid on our team that would have anything bad to say about him."
Although a relatively new member to the Tufts program, Burr was certainly not a novice when it came to baseball. He coached at both the high school and collegiate levels - at Franklin and Medway High Schools and at Dean College where he served as head coach from 1995-2004, posting a combined 115-136-3 record.
In 2005, Burr decided to walk away from his head coaching position and join Casey, his friend of more than 20 years. When a coaching position opened up that year, Casey asked Burr for help in deciding amongst the candidates. But when Burr told Casey he was interested in the job, the decision-making process was a no-brainer for the Jumbo coach.
"He was one of nicest people I ever knew," Casey said. "He was a good man, he worked hard, and he really cared about the kids. Basically, he was my Dick Cheney - in a good way - is the best way to put it."
Burr was a mentor both on-and-off the field, teaching math to students from eighth to twelfth grades at Franklin Junior High and Franklin High School for over 32 years.
"One of the big lessons that he taught me was you can't just play baseball with your talent; you have to have the head for it, the heart for it, and the intestinal fortitude for it," Simon said. "There are certain situations in baseball that call for you to dig deep. He challenged us to be those types of players."
A native of Medfield, Burr graduated from Medfield High School in 1970, eventually earning his bachelor's degree from UMass Amherst and his master's degree from Cambridge College.
In addition to baseball, Burr excelled in both football and swimming during his years as a student. Following his career as a player, Burr also coached high school football in Bellingham, Medway, and Foxboro before shifting his focus to baseball.
He is survived by Wendy Burr, of Natick, his wife of 29 years; his two sons, Michael and David Burr; his brothers, Thomas Burr, and his wife Chris, Richard Burr, and his wife Sarah; and his sister, Janet Martini and her husband, Robert.
His family held a Mass of Christian Burial on Jan. 9 at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Medfield. He was buried in Sharon Memorial Park, in Sharon, following a memorial service at the Roberts-Mitchell Funeral Home in Medfield.
Contributions in Burr's memory may be sent to the American Heart Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701.
