OBITUARY: Tom Gury Burrows, Longtime Merritt Island Attorney, Dies at 88

From Hawkeye Sprinter to Merritt Island Pillar: Remembering Tom Gury Burrows

BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA – Tom Gury Burrows, born in 1937 at his family home on 17th Street in Belle Plaine, Iowa, passed away peacefully at his home on Merritt Island, Florida, on November 26, 2025. A devoted “Hawkeye,” he was 88 years old when he passed peacefully with family at his side.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Ruth and John Burrows, and two older siblings, Jean H. Colony and John Burrows.

Despite his early accolades as an exceptional sprinter, the richness of Tom’s well-litigated and well-traveled life highlighted his capacity for marathon efforts. From Iowa to India, from reporter to Army Lieutenant, and from husband to grandfather, Tom lived a life of adaptability, inquisitiveness and good-humored banter.

A proud graduate of Belle Plaine High School’s Class of 1955, Tom distinguished himself with both his quick-moving feet and quick-moving pen.

Tom’s nine State Championships titles in track and the “Outstanding Senior Athlete” award complemented his longstanding devotion to journalism and history. Diligently employed at the Burrows Publishing Co., Tom had a passion for capturing events and stories, and he became one of the youngest members of the State Historical Society of Iowa during this time.

Whether working as a printer’s devil or cross-examining loved ones as a devil’s advocate, Tom’s dedication to investigating and documenting the world around him grounded his life.

Tom attended the University of Iowa on an athletic scholarship, gaining a reputation as not only one of the fastest sprinters in the Big Ten Conference but also as one of the fastest minds around as a staff writer for the Daily Iowan. He graduated in 1959 with a BA in journalism before receiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.

For his dedicated army service, Tom was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, later achieving the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. It was during his military service that he met Janet Yeary, from Stanford, Kentucky.

Tom is survived by his wife of 63 years, Janet Yeary, and their two children (son Mark Burrows and his wife Betsy, and daughter Kimberly Florescu and her husband Lucian). Together, Tom and Jan have four grandchildren – John, Brooke, Sam (and wife Chelsea), and Katie.

Tom began his distinguished legal career in Daytona Beach, Florida, joining the law firm of Raymond, Wilson, Karl, Conway, and Bar, which was quickly renamed Raymond, Wilson, Karl, Conway, Bar, and Burrows.

As the Kennedy Space Center grew, so too did the landscape of Merritt Island and Brevard County.

Tom was responsible for starting and managing the firm’s branch on Merritt Island, where he played a pivotal role in the development of Merritt Island by representing hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses and individuals over his career.

In 2014, he was honored by the Florida Bar Association for 50 years of dedicated service to both his community and the legal profession.

To the benefit of his family and friends, Tom’s lifelong interests included writing and travel (near and afar) as well as chasing nearly any firetruck with lights and sirens on. He was an Eagle Scout and long-time Rotarian (a charter member of the Merritt Island Rotary Club).

As an accomplished author, he self-published several books about the Burrows family, his adventures, and Belle Plaine, Iowa, and he leaves behind a legacy of generational and community-based stories that shine light on how history, no matter how small, can forge the present.

And, as an accomplished traveler, he leaves behind a legacy of how curiosity can make an impossibly large world still feel like a home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Francis Hospice or Merritt Island Presbyterian Church.

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