Mr. Burton L. Wilner

PALM BEACH, FL - Burton L. Wilner, 86, of Palm Beach, FL and a long time resident of Auburn, died in West Palm Beach on May 5, 2008 of a stroke.
     Born in Newburyport, MA on October 17, 1921, he grew up in Haverhill, MA, lived most of his life in Auburn, and after retirement in 1988 settled in Palm Beach, FL.
     He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until he enlisted and served in the U.S. Army Air Corp as a first Lt during WWII where he was a radar counter measures officer, flying B29s in the Pacific with the 500th Bombardment group. When the war ended, he returned home, married Jacqueline M. Kraunz, and finished his education at the University of Maine at Orono. He worked with his father and other family at Wilner Wood Products Company in Norway, where he was the technical and research director.
     He was a founder and long term Chairman of the Board of Stephens Memorial Hospital which served the greater Norway and South Paris communities. He was an active member of the Maine Organization of Hospital Trustees and the Maine Hospital Licensing Advisory Board. He was active in the Lewiston-Auburn Jewish Community where he served as President of the Jewish Federation, Jewish Community Center, and Congregation Beth Jacob and was a founding member of Temple Shalom. He served on the synagogue's Ritual and Cemetery Committees and chaired the Community Hebrew School Committee.
     While living in Auburn, he was an active participant in the International Toastmasters Club and Boy Scout Troop 111. In Palm Beach, he was a member of Temple Emanu-El and their Men's Club and Bereavement Committee. He was a devoted supporter of interfaith initiatives, both in Auburn and in Florida. He found a new passion upon his retirement to Florida when he served as Chairman of the Chaplaincy Service of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. He then completed intensive training in Clinical Pastoral Education, including a Pastoral Care Internship, to become a clinical member of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. He worked as a Jewish and Interfaith Chaplain with the Hospice of Palm Beach County and at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach.
     Mr. Wilner is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; his daughter, Ronnie Sugarman and her husband Barry of Brookline, MA; son, David Wilner and his wife, Jan of Holden, MA and son, James Wilner and his wife Laura of Marlborough, MA. A daughter, Janet Kornreich, died in 1992. He was a loving grandfather to Michael, Nathaniel, and Joseph Sugarman, Sarah (Kornreich) Golubchik, Hannah (Kornreich) Lastoff, Ilana Kornreich, Samantha and Joshua Wilner, Julianne and Joel Wilner and great-grandfather to Yishua Golubchik. He leaves his sisters, Elinor Goldblatt of Auburn, Ruth Schloss and her husband Jay of South Carolina, June Chason of Virginia, and his brother Stanley and his wife Phyllis of South Carolina, previously of Portland. His brothers, Charles and Richard and sister, Avis Schwartz predeceased him. He is also survived by many nephews, nieces and cousins.
     The funeral was held at Temple Shalom, 74 Bradman Street, Auburn on Wednesday, May 7. Burial was at the Beth Jacob Cemetery in Auburn, and memorial observance was at the home of Elinor Goldblatt, 84 Old Carriage Road, Auburn, on Wednesday evening. Memorial observance continues Thursday evening at Elinor Goldblatt's; at the Sugarmans', 219 Gardner Road, Brookline, MA, Thursday through Tuesday morning; at Jan and David Wilner's, 112 Fox Hill Drive, Holden, MA on Sunday through Monday evening; at Jim and Laura Wilner's, 172 Stearns Road, Marlborough, MA on Sunday through Monday evening and at his home, 2778 South Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, Sunday through Tuesday morning.
     Contributions in Mr. Wilner's memory may be directed to American Friends of Magen David Adom (), to Temple Emanu-El, 190 North County Road, Palm Beach, FL, or to a charity of your choice.
     Arrangements are under the care of Albert & Burpee Funeral Home.