Archives West Finding Aid

South (Robin) Burn was a resident and active community member of Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands in Washington State. He was born in Washington D.C. on May 20, 1924, the second son of June and Farrar Burn. While South and his older brother, North, were growing up, the Burn family traveled extensively around the United States, alternating between California, Oregon, Washington, and Johns and Waldron Islands in the San Juans.

During World War II, South was in Naval ROTC and later commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserves. After the war he attended the University of Washington where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Meteorology. In 1946, South married Doris Wernstedt whom he had met as a child on Waldron Island. Together the couple had four children: Mark, Lisa, Robin Skye, and Cameron. South spent some summers fishing and then became a contractor, building houses and shuttling back and forth between the mainland and Waldron Island where the Burn family lived in a cabin they had built.

Throughout the 1960s and the next several decades, South conducted extensive research, published writings in local newspapers, and spoke to various boards and committees on matters related to San Juan County’s transportation, tourism, and general urbanization policies (including the construction of Waldronaire Airport). South and Doris separated after eight years of marriage but remained close friends until his death in 1994.