Michael Freeman remembers a conversation when he, like many passionate historic preservationists, was in a friendly battle of one-upsmanship with Heather Burnash as they discussed their credentials. The only problem was – as she often was in many aspects of her life – Heather was one step ahead.
“Heather and I were talking once, and we were kind of like trying to out-historic preservation each other,” said Freeman, the executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank. “I made some comment about saving the (Saginaw Street) bricks and making sure that those are protected. I said, ‘Well, my grandfather was one of the brick layers.’ And she looked at me and she’s like, ‘Well, my grandfather was one of the brick layers too!’ And I said, ‘Then I guess you’re going to get the job done, aren’t you?’”
In addition to a shared passion for preserving Flint’s historic elements, Freeman said he and Burnash also bonded over being descendants of immigrant families in Flint. Both have Sicilian and Italian roots. Freeman thinks those influences partially explain how tirelessly Burnash worked to help others.
“We’re like a generation or two away from the immigrants who came over, but my family was Sicilian as well,” he said. “And so that was like our connection point and those of us who were raised within families who really appreciate the opportunities that were afforded to them and their children, it goes into that giving back. If you look at a lot of immigrant communities, they create a network to survive. I think for a lot of us, it’s been passed down.”
Burnash, a Flint attorney and strong advocate for the city and its people, died on January 5 at age 50. She leaves behind an incredible and respected legacy of fighting for causes and people she believed in with consistency, preparedness, confidence, and integrity.
Among the many signature projects she advocated for, the restoration of the original bricks on Saginaw Street that she has a familial tie to was an important one. She helped ensure the project was done with preservation in mind.
Claire Nowak-Boyd, a former Flint city planner who met Burnash when Burnash was on Flint’s Historic District Commission, remembers that, when the restoration project was being initially discussed, there were people within city government who preferred to get rid of large sections of bricks because maintaining them is difficult.
“Heather let them know that these Saginaw Street bricks are a protected local historic district,” Nowak-Boyd said. “And, this was after my time at the city had ended, but my understanding is she called a meeting and kind of got asked, ‘Well, who are you to stop this project?’ And they soon found out who she was. She was standing up for the right way to do things and that was so cool. You absolutely need someone who knows the law and is willing to draw a line in the sand like that. It takes a lot of personal grit.”
That was far from the only issue Burnash was unafraid to fight for. Whether it was in her role as an attorney standing up for clients, or in her many community-facing volunteer roles, she could be counted on to do the right, ethical thing, even when that was hard or inconvenient.
“When no one else was defending our historic resources, she always would,” Freeman said. “She didn’t care who she offended. Right was right with her. The ordinance was the ordinance. Even when there were power players who had a lot of disregard for the assets that we have. She held them accountable. A lot of people in our community just shrink back and they don’t want to make waves. And Heather, that didn’t bother her one bit.”
But even with that toughness, it was combined with friendliness, approachability, and care.
“She was really fun,” Nowak-Boyd said. “Even in the dry environment of a commission hearing, she was fun to be around and someone who could work with all kinds of people. Even when she was hurrying a meeting along because she had 82 different other obligations to get to, she always just did stuff in such a fun way and she made the work feel good.”
A Principled Approach
Burnash is a Kearsley High School graduate, and used education to accomplish her professional and community goals. She was always interested in politics, history, and law, and those subject areas all became cornerstones of her expertise no matter what role she was in. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from the University of Michigan, later earned a master’s degree in historic preservation from Eastern Michigan University, and eventually, a Juris Doctor degree from Cooley Law School.
Freeman, who was friends with Burnash for around 25 years and worked with her in many different professional and volunteer capacities, sought her out specifically because of that special expertise she had.
“I actually recruited her,” Freeman said. “I was the state director of the AmeriCorps program, working in Lansing, and there was a position open for a community organizer, and this is before she went to law school. She worked with the neighborhood trying to create connections and tie them into the economic development, the new shops that were coming in and the events that were going on. It was her job to work with the residents to make sure that they were included in it. She was a national service participant before she was a lawyer. And everything that she did had civil service and community impact associated with it, because she really believed in it and thought it was just really important.”
Burnash also worked as the executive director of the Whaley Historical House in Flint, with the Michigan House of Representatives, and in the city of Flint department of community and neighborhood services. After earning her law degree, she worked for Genesee County Circuit Court, was an associate attorney for Simen, Figura & Parker, was a partner at the Law Office of Burnash & Hammon, and established her own firm, the Law Offices of Heather V. Burnash, in 2012 where she specialized in criminal defense.
Judge Jessica Hammon, who serves Flint’s 67th District Court, met Burnash in 2008 through the Genesee County Bar Association when both were starting their legal careers.
“We were both new attorneys and neither one of us really knew anybody in the legal community, and didn’t really know what we were gonna do with our lives yet,” Hammon said. “We both joined the Genesee County Bar Association right away and the executive director of the Bar Association at the time, Ramona Sain, she knew both of us, and she said, I want to take you both out to dinner because I think you two would like each other and I think you need to know each other. And so we went out and the rest was history.”
They opened their law practice together shortly after meeting. They bonded, in part, over a shared love of Flint.
“If you are lucky enough to become a part of the Flint community, and be included here, it’s like a family,” Hammon said. “It’s a big little town. Everybody kind of knows everybody. When you’re a part of that, everybody supports everybody and kinda lifts each other up.”
Throughout their friendship, Hammon was constantly impressed by Burnash’s passion, willingness to help others, and ethical approach to everything.
“She was always like that, since the day that I met her,” Hammon said. “I like to say that Heather was unapologetically Heather. From the day that I met her, she believed in what she believed in and she fought for the things that she fought for. She didn’t do anything halfway. If she thought it was the right thing to do, she just did it and she didn’t complain.”
As an attorney, Burnash was heavily focused on people and providing thorough representation, particularly to people who were dealing with difficult circumstances. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told ABC 12 that Burnash’s compassion always stood out.
“She often would appear in landlord-tenant court on behalf of folks who couldn’t pay their rent,” Leyton said. “She would do whatever she could to make sure they had housing, to make sure they and their children were safe.”
Hammon had the unique perspective of practicing law alongside Burnash and then presiding over cases in which Burnash was counsel after enough time had passed from them having a practice together. One thing that stood out is simply the fair way that Burnash treated people.
“She was just one of those people that could light up a room,” Hammon said. “Even if you were in court with her and you were the attorney on the other side of the case. I got to see her in action and she was strong, she was smart, she was kind, and she was fair. Even the attorneys on the other side of the case knew that if Heather was on the case, they were going to have somebody who was gonna advocate for her client, but was also a pleasure to work with. Sometimes that’s hard in a legal career, to find that balance. But she had it.”
That mentality extended far beyond her professional career. Burnash was a tireless volunteer and philanthropist supporting a wide range of causes. She served on numerous boards, including the Genesee County Historic District Commission, the Foundation for Mott Community College, the Genesee County Bar Association, Whaley Historical House Board, Planned Parenthood of East Central Michigan, Friends of the Alley, State Bar of Michigan Character & Fitness Committee, the Community Foundation Façade Beautification Program, University of Michigan-Flint Alumni Association “Go Blue on the Bricks” Committee, Specialty Courts Advisory Board, and the St. John Vianney Auction Committee, among many others.
“Heather, just her professionalism, and I’m going to say this because I know she would approve of this wording, the way that she just like magnificently had her shit together made it so much easier to run a professional board,” Nowak-Boyd said. “Heather was just so organized, mainly because she was so busy. She was always like, alright, let’s get this done, onto the next thing.”
She was the founding member of the Genesee County Young Democrats in 1993 and co-founder of the Downtown Neighborhood Association in 2009, and also served as a precinct delegate for Davison Township and the city of Flint. She regularly volunteered for neighborhood, park, and cemetery cleanups and was a consistent volunteer with several political candidates and campaigns, knocking on doors, managing campaigns, and more.
“Even after she became an attorney, she continued to volunteer and help people,” Freeman said. “She could have been in areas of law that would’ve been more financially advantageous, but she didn’t want to do that. She wanted to use her position and ability to help people who generally are marginalized.”
Passing Down History
Burnash is known to the community for her many public-facing efforts, but she was most passionate about her daughters, Sydney and Liv, and her loved ones. She was preceded in death by her father Joy “Bud” Russell. In addition to her daughters, she is survived by her mother, Joyce (Fittante) Russell, brother Judson “Joe” Russell, and close longtime friends Shannon Ash, Marcus Randolph, Jessica Smith Brown, Jill Williams, and Julie Liell Hurst.
Freeman said that her love for her family and her love for preserving history and the community were tied together. She was passionate about keeping the city’s treasures and unique history in place for future generations.
“She believed that this is a cultural heritage that we’re passing down,” Freeman said.
Freeman remembers his grandfather teaching him how to take care of cemeteries and gravestones, so when he died, Freeman organized a cemetery cleanup for family as a way to honor him. Burnash also came.
“It was family members who came back (for the cleanup). We had about 25 families who came, and I taught them how to clean gravestones,” Freeman said. “And Heather just showed up too.”
Her historic 1890s home in Flint was a deep source of pride for her. She bought it in 1997 and lovingly renovated it and cared for it over the years, raising her children in it.
“She loved that house,” Hammon said. “She put so much work into it, and that was kind of part of her efforts to support the city.”
Even with the seriousness Burnash exhibited in her work and care, she was also a uniquely fun person. Nowak-Boyd said that when she was working for the city, part of her role was taking minutes for historic commission meetings. She said she could always pencil in Burnash’s name as the person who was going to – excitedly – officially close the meeting.
“Every single month, she would be the person to make the motion to adjourn, and she would just do it with such great gusto because she was really excited for everyone to go home,” Nowak-Boyd said. “She would do it in such a friendly way, she just always made it funny.”
Her obituary even ends in a way that honors her humor and personality – “It is Heather’s personal request that in lieu of flowers, everyone please stop watching Fox News.”
Her death leaves a tremendous hole in the community, but her life also provides a blueprint for others to model her genuine passion and love for Flint.
“She was one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. We lost something that was so good in Flint with Heather and what she did and her advocacy,” Freeman said. “I’m hoping that other people take a page from her book and ask how they can advocate for a better community. So that way at least her work, what she did, will carry on. She did a lot and didn’t get as much recognition maybe as she should have.”
“Every city needs people like Heather,” Hammon said. “Flint, especially, needs people that will stand up for those who, for whatever reason, can’t stand up for themselves and that will fight those fights. If there were more people like Heather, we would all be better for it. But the thing that I think is important to remember is that there are so many people out there who can take up that mantle, take up that legacy, and keep fighting those fights. And what I hope people see or learn from Heather’s example is that we all can do those things, you know?”
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