JOHN P. BURKE, LT, USN
John Burke '63
Lucky Bag
From the 1963 Lucky Bag:
JOHN PATRICK BURKE
San Bernardino, California
Jack came to us upon graduation from high school. He never has had any trouble with the academics and was. on the Superintendent's list consistently. He was always the person that everyone ran to when a difficult problem came up. Jack was never the indoor type and excelled in his favorite sports of squash and tennis. Although we would try to fool you into thinking he was the quiet type, he was really the life of the party. Weekends found Jack spending most of his time either dragging or "finding some other entertainment. The fairer sex have never been a major problem to him as shown by the abundance of mail he always received. His easy-going personality and hard working manner will make him a valuable asset to the Naval Service.
JOHN PATRICK BURKE
San Bernardino, California
Jack came to us upon graduation from high school. He never has had any trouble with the academics and was. on the Superintendent's list consistently. He was always the person that everyone ran to when a difficult problem came up. Jack was never the indoor type and excelled in his favorite sports of squash and tennis. Although we would try to fool you into thinking he was the quiet type, he was really the life of the party. Weekends found Jack spending most of his time either dragging or "finding some other entertainment. The fairer sex have never been a major problem to him as shown by the abundance of mail he always received. His easy-going personality and hard working manner will make him a valuable asset to the Naval Service.
Loss
John was lost when USS Scorpion (SSN 589) sank on May 22, 1968.
Remembrances
From usna63.org:
September 27, 2014: A tribute from Jim Ring.
Jack was my plebe summer roommate and he was a great one to have. We were here three days when our other roommate, Gordon Smith from Georgia, said "I ain't doing this sh--! And resigned. If it wasn't for Jack, I probably would have followed him. I know I called my Mother and told her I wanted to come home. But thanks to Jack and my folks, I stayed and it was the best decision of my life.
Jack helped me because he always had a positive outlook on everything and a fantastic smile on his face. He encouraged me and made our short time together enjoyable, if that is possible during plebe summer.
During our four years at the Academy, he was in the other regiment, so I would only see him occasionally, but he always had that big smile on his face.
After we graduated, Jack went into the nuclear power and submarine pipeline and unfortunately was on the USS SCORPION-SSN-589, when it sunk on 22 May 1968 with two other classmates. This was almost one year later to the day that one of my other roommates, Jim "Kelly" Patterson, was lost over North Vietnam. Their bodies were never recovered.
I had no contact with his family until I was involved with the Class Foundation and Mike Lents tracked down his widow and found out that Jack had two children. Stasia was four and Heidi was under one, when he died. The Class Foundation provided grants for college to both of his children and both finished college.
Fast forward 50 years and I noticed that a Gordon Smith from Georgia (and there was only one person with that name, who entered with us) donated $1000 to our 50th reunion gift fund. Guess you can't get USNA out of your system.
From Mike Rubel:
Jack was my roommate all 4 years. He and I met several times after graduation and he was stationed at Groton CT when I was in Sub school as a porkchop. When news of SCORPION came out I tried to get to Jolene but no answer. 3 days later I took GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER out of Charleston SC on my last patrol. We now have Jolene in our company data base and we email from time to time. She's also on my Facebook! He was the sweetest guy ever.
And from Sherwood Zimmerman: My memory is that Jack was the smartest guy in our company - maybe the smartest guy in '63. We knew Jack and Jolene at sub school in Groton, CT - a great couple.
From USS Scorpion (SSN-589) In Memoriam
John Patrick Burke was born October 9, 1941, in Adrian, Mich. He attended Holy Rosary Grammar School in San Bernardino, Calif., and graduated from San Bernardino High School. He was a member of the high school tennis team and received a publication award for meritorious contributions to high school publications.
In July 1959, he was accepted as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. He was consistently on the superintendent’s list at the Academy and after graduation with the class of 1963, was commissioned as an Ensign. He received nuclear propulsion training at Mare Island, Calif., from September 1963 to April 1964, and Idaho Falls, Idaho, from April 1964 to October 1964. He attended the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Conn., from October 1964 to May 1965. His first duty in submarines was in USS Tench, where he served as electronics material officer, sonar officer, supply officer, and commissary officer.
Lieutenant Burke reported to USS Scorpion in September 1966, and served as weapons officer and duty officer. He was authorized to wear the National Defense Service Medal.
He is survived by his widow, the former Jolene Belle Gillard of San Bernardino; and daughters Stasia Marie and Heidi Jane. He is also survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice E. Burke, of San Bernardino.
He has a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Related Articles
Francis Slattery '54, David Lloyd '56, Daniel Stephens '59, Charles Lamberth '63, George Farrin '63, John Sweet '64, Laughton Smith '65, and Michael Odening '66 were also aboard USS Scorpion (SSN 589) when she was lost with all hands on May 22, 1968.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
