By Chris Mayhew
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FLORENCE - Career chef Floyd Burns spent more than 30 years delighting members of the University Club on Fourth Street in downtown Cincinnati by turning meals into artistic presentations of food.

Mr. Burns died Tuesday at his home in Florence, age 82. He retired from the University Club when he was 75.

"He could decorate and work with food until it was a work of art on the plate," said his daughter Deborah Burns Woodruff of Florence.

For example, he once made a cake in the shape of a piano for the musician Liberace, Woodruff said.

Mr. Burns' skills as a chef were rivaled only by his ability to carve sculptures out of ice - something he taught himself.

"He could carve swans out of ice, and never took a day of art classes in his life," his daughter said. "He could take a block of ice with a chainsaw and an ice pick, and he would use these ice sculptures as a centerpiece for the buffet."

Mr. Burns received his first training as a chef in the Navy during World War II, where he served on an oil tanker.

Before he shipped out, Mr. Burns married Esther Ellen Burns on Jan.12, 1942.

Ruth Sloan, who is a chef at the University Club and trained under Mr. Burns, said he was a wonderful butcher and sauce maker.

"He made an art out of butchering meat," she said.

Sloan said Mr. Burns would sometimes stay overnight at the club in bad weather just to make sure morning diners would be served.

Mr. Burns was so highly thought of that for a couple weeks each summer one of the club's members would hire him to cook at a private island resort in Canada, Sloan said.

When he retired from the club, it was only six weeks before area restaurants started calling Mr. Burns to help fill in for their chefs or to help with special occasions.

Born in Grant County, Mr. Burns moved to Covington after his six years of service in the Navy - later moving to Florence.

Mr. Burns was a member of Southside Baptist Church in Covington for almost 30 years, and he was a deacon for many of those years.

Other survivors include: his wife of 61 years, Esther Ellen Burns; two brothers, Victor and Robert; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Services will be 10 a.m. today at Chambers & Grubbs Funeral Home in Florence. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.

Memorials: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 3200 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45220.

E-mail cmayhew@enquirer.com